The cost of manufacturing carbon fiber is usually very high, but a group of scientists at Pennsylvania State University in the United States has developed a new manufacturing method that may reduce the production cost of cars that use this lightweight, high-strength material to improve safety. Using a combination of computer simulation and laboratory tests, the research team found that adding a small amount of 2D graphene to the production process can both reduce production costs and allow such fibers to be reinforced.
For decades, carbon fiber has been the mainstream material in aircraft manufacturing. If the correct manufacturing method is used, such long chains of carbon atoms, which are narrower than human hair, are lighter in weight, higher in hardness, and stronger in strength, which can allow aircraft flying a few miles above the ground to better protect passengers.
Adri van Duin, a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering at Pennsylvania State University, said: "Although carbon fiber has good functions, the existing carbon fiber production method will make the car more expensive. If its characteristics can be realized more easily, it can be substantially Reduce the weight and cost of the car while making the car safer."
Now, carbon fiber is priced at $15/lb. Researchers from Pennsylvania State University, the University of Virginia, and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the United States have collaborated with industrial partners Solvay and Oshkosh in the hope that by changing the complex production process, carbon fiber The price dropped to $5/lb. Lower production costs can expand the potential applications of carbon fiber, including use in automobiles. In addition, the team's research may also reduce the production cost of other types of carbon fiber, some of which are currently priced at up to $900/lb.
Małgorzata Kowalik, a researcher at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Pennsylvania State University, said: "At present, most carbon fibers are made of a polymer called polyacrylonitrile (PAN), which is very expensive, and its cost accounts for about the cost of carbon fiber production. 50%."
At present, 90% of the carbon fibers on the market are made of PAN, but the production of PAN requires a lot of energy. First, the PAN fiber must be heated to 200 to 300 degrees Celsius to oxidize. Then, it needs to be heated to 1200 to 1600 degrees Celsius to convert the atoms into carbon. Finally, it needs to be heated to 2100 degrees Celsius for the molecules to be properly aligned. Without this series of steps, the resulting material would lack the required strength and rigidity.
The team recently stated that it is only necessary to add 0.075% of graphene in the first stage of the manufacturing process to produce information carbon fiber, which is 225% stronger and 184% more rigid than the original PAN-based carbon fiber.
The team used a series of small and large computer simulations conducted on several supercomputers to study the chemical reactions that took place. They also used the Pennsylvania State University laboratory to study the characteristics of each material.
Using the new knowledge gained from the research, the team is exploring how to use cheaper precursors in the production process to further utilize graphene, with the goal of reducing one or more production steps, thereby further reducing costs.