General term for the black pigment used in most printing inks. Carbon black is an amorphous (i.e., lacking a crystalline structure) form of carbon produced by partially burning hydrocarbons (such as crude oil or natural gas), wood, or animal bones and tissue, and condensing the sooty flame on a cool surface. Carbon Black pigments are 90:99% carbon, with only 1:10% volatile substances.
Carbon Black pigments vary in color from a grayish blue to jet black, are not chemically reactive, are extremely fast-to-light, and have a high resistance to heat, alkalis, acids, solvents, waxes, water, soaps, and other chemicals. Carbon Blacks are classified as Furnace Black or Channel Black, which primarily describes the difference in the means of producing the pigment. (See also Black Pigment.)
('CI Pigment Black 7 No. 77266'.)