Raman spectroscopic characterization of some commercially available carbon black materials

Some commercially available carbon black materials were characterized by Raman spectroscopy. The Raman spectra were recorded between 1000 and 1800 cm−1, which corresponds to the spectral region that provides the most valuable data on the microstructure of carbons. A comparative study of the intensity, bandwidth and frequency shifts of the D and G bands, as well as the broad amorphous feature, is presented here. A curve fitting method is also proposed in order to improve the accuracy in determining the spectroscopic parameters of the main Raman bands. Correlations between the Raman spectra and the structure were established. The samples were found to correspond to low order sp2 bonded carbons, but cannot be considered as truly amorphous since they have some degree of order in the basal plane.