Carbon-fibre to go mass-market

Carbon-fibre, long the exclusive material of supercars and racing cars, could soon be saving fuel and lowering emissions for even humble family cars.

Chemical giant BASF and raw carbon supplier SGL may have found an entirely new way to build unstressed panels and sheets out of carbon-fibre.

Said by insiders to be so cost-effective that it could drag carbon-fibre from the core of the world’s best supercars to the skin of almost every car, the new method is based around an all-new type of resin.

With traditional carbon-fibre structures, layers of woven carbon fibres are placed in male-female dies, which are then injected with a glue-like resin, which is then cured with a combination of heat and pressure.

Yet the resins are chemically complicated, can be very heavy compared to the carbon they secure into place, create uneven surfaces for painting, are highly labour-intensive and are impossible to recycle. Instead, they are burnt off at around 800 degrees.

BASF’s new system, leaked late last week, is based around plastics. A spokesperson said the system soaked the carbon fibres in the still-liquid plastic, which sets through a chemical reaction into a strong, stable compound.

Dubbed a “Reactive Polyamide”, the new system will be considerably lighter than current carbon-fibre systems and much easier to mould into shape as it goes from liquid to malleable to solid as it cures.

“It will be very light, very strong and very easy to shape into all kinds of designs without weak points,” the spokesperson said.

“This will be very important for mass production. It also means lighter weight and lower fuel consumption and fewer emissions.”

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