Recent Advances in the Field of Carbon Fiber

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Carbon fiber can be included as one of the most relevant materials in modern technology. Carbon fiber makes things strong and light, including high-speed cars, airplanes, sporting equipment, and spaceships. With the rapid development of carbon fiber as an advanced engineering material, it has become indispensable in the manufacturing industry. But what is it, and what makes it so special? In this blog post, we will review how recent carbon fiber technology advancements have considerably helped in the expansion of its use into more and more new industries.

Everything we need to know about Carbon Fiber

Before we get into the latest developments, let's talk a little about what carbon fiber is. Made up of thin strands of carbon atoms, thinner than human hair, yet when interwoven together, they create a very strong, lightweight material. Carbon fiber is a composite material applied in industries or areas where the products require a high level of strength-to-weight ratio. In other terms, this means that carbon fiber is extremely light but at the same time very firm, rigid, and durable. Some of the fields and industries where those qualities and properties are very much in demand and highly sought after in sectors including aerospace, civil engineering, automotive, marine, construction, and many others who are also starting to realize the attractive uses of carbon fiber.

Advancements in Carbon Fiber Development

The last few years have seen some exciting developments in carbon fiber. These advancements make carbon fiber products more effective, cheaper, and greener. Here are the most crucial:

Improved Manufacturing Technique

Recent studies have pointed out new methods that improve the mechanical properties, thermal stability, and overall efficiency of the production of carbon fiber. Some techniques employed, like Laser Powder Bed Fusion techniques, have been used to produce carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy thermosets. In this regard, it is considered that up to a significant enhancement in the thermomechanical properties, such as Young's modulus and fracture modulus, increases by about 52% and 259%, respectively, at the optimum fiber content.

Techniques employing sodium dodecyl sulfate treatment have equally been used to enhance bonding between carbon fibers and polymer matrices. In this view, it was observed that there is an increase in strength of up to 15%. In addition, the treatment of carbon fibers with functionalized carbon nanotubes as used in sizing agents improved the interfacial bonding and mechanical properties of carbon fiber/epoxy composites. A conductive polymer modification-ortho-phenylenediamine on carbon fibers raised tensile strength to 44.9%, while the interfacial adhesion in epoxy resin was improved by 189%.

Recently, some reports have shown that composites prepared from carbon fiber powder and polylactic acid possess excellent electromagnetic interference shielding properties with a shielding efficiency of 99.67%. Generally, performance-reducing defects were overcome through the development of various physical and chemical treatments to improve the interfacial compatibility of the carbon fiber composite.

3D Printing with Carbon Fiber

The carbon fiber three-dimensional printing development process has recently been created. This allows the manufacturing of geometrical shapes and structures which were rather difficult or impossible to realize by using traditional techniques. Many recent studies have identified various optimization strategies that achieve better quality and improved performance. These studies have suggested that alterations in the temperature of printing, printing speed, and thickness of the layers can effectively help in enhancing the mechanical properties of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer composites. For instance, optimal conditions for carbon fiber/nylon composites resulted in a tensile strength increase of 98.1%. At the same time, printing technologies involving multi-tow continuous carbon fiber improved the efficiency and accuracy of coordinated nozzles for enhanced material depositing.

More recently, the development of techniques has allowed the direct ink writing process to fabricate thermoset carbon fiber-reinforced polymers with improved mechanical properties and greater scalability. Magnetic Compaction Force-Assisted Additive Manufacturing was applied in the industry with the added benefits of improving interlaminate shear strength and reducing porosity in 3D-printed polymers from carbon fiber beyond conventional techniques. In summary, these new improvements in the technique of carbon fiber 3D printing techniques have largely enhanced the mechanical properties and application limits of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer composites.

Carbon Fiber Recycling

Another development has been the recycling of carbon fiber. Carbon fiber used to be non-recyclable because of the nature of its bond to resin. Nowadays, new recycling techniques can destroy old products made of carbon fiber and reutilize the material for new products. A novel chemical recycling technique was developed using meta-chloroperoxybenzoic acid, which completely decomposed carbon fiber-reinforced polymers at low temperatures within 6 hours, recovering fibers with 93.6% of their tensile strength. Optimized thermal recycling techniques have also been developed, capable of significant retention of fiber strength and modulus to 80.3% and 87.6%, respectively, with minimal energy consumption. This is important for the environment because it reduces the need for raw materials and overall diminishes carbon fiber environmental impact.

Conclusion and Future Outlook 

New and advanced forms of carbon fiber composites are developed every year, and their applications widen proportionally. Carbon fiber composites find more and more applications in all spheres of life and industries because their application becomes more advantageous and valuable compared to the current state. When it comes to the advancement of carbon fiber technology, there are some new and innovative advancements regarding the performance of manufacturing techniques, 3D printing, recycling, resin systems, and polymers, as well as the reinforcements, carbon fibers, and their new styles and types.

The new advancements in carbon fiber technology we see today are only the beginning. Whether by making more efficient prepreg carbon fiber tubes, by creating more versatile carbon fiber sheets, or by making stronger carbon fiber rods, the future certainly is bright for the incredible material. We will continue to see carbon fibre find use in innovative ways: from the manufacturing of the lightest electric vehicles to building stronger, more sustainable infrastructure. As manufacturing techniques continues to evolve and recycling becomes more common, the material will become easier and greener, further sealing its position as one of the most important materials of the modern age.