Toho Tenax, the core company of the Teijin Group’s carbon fibres and composites business, has developed a flame-retardant, high-modulus thermoplastic textile prepreg.

A prepreg is a carbon fibre sheet pre-impregnated with matrix resin. This new textile version instead uses Tenax TPWF (Thermo Plastic Woven Fabric) as a base and is said to achieve a high level impregnation with polyethersulfone resin, resulting in more than 55% carbon fibre content, the company reports.

This is said to deliver high flame retardancy and robust mechanical properties. The new product can be used to produce high performance carbon fibre reinforced thermoplastics (CFRTP) in 1-metre-width rolls.

Properties

Currently, a typical carbon fibre reinforced plastics (CFRP) uses a thermoset resin such as epoxy, which requires a long processing time and high production costs, the company reports.

In parallel with this new prepreg, Toho Tenax also developed a rapid heat and cool press-moulding technology that can produce CFRTP in a 4-minute cycle time, significantly shortening the processing time and enabling high production volume. The manufacturer is currently developing technology that will allow for an even shorter cycle time.

Furthermore, typical thermoset prepregs require refrigerated storage, but the use of thermoplastics in this new prepreg enables it to be stored long-term at room temperature. The prepreg has UL94 V-0 capability and will be certified by June 2016. In addition, the thermoplastic resin allows this textile prepreg to be recycled into pellets for injection moulding, according to the manufacturer.

Application

Initially, Toho Tenax plans to use this new thermoplastics textile prepreg to develop CFRTP for consumer electronics, medical equipment and sporting goods. Sample shipments will start in March 2016. Going forward, further applications are expected to be developed for industrial equipment, aircraft and other promising areas.

Teijin Group is currently pursuing development of new CFRTP applications for mass production as part of the acceleration of its midstream-to-downstream business strategy.

This new roll-formed thermoplastic textile prepreg is expected to deliver a wide variety of solutions across multiple industries, thanks to its capability to meet customer demand for high-tenacity, high-tensile strength high modulus and high heat and shock resistance.

Teijin Group

Teijin is a technology-driven group offering advanced solutions in the areas of sustainable transportation, information and electronics, safety and protection, environment and energy, and healthcare.

Its main fields of operation are high-performance fibres such as aramid, carbon fibres and composites, healthcare, films, resin and plastic processing, polyester fibres, products converting and IT. The group has some 150 companies and around 16,000 employees spread out over 20 countries worldwide.

www.teijin.com