Domestic continuous carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic preprepreg industry started late, so far, the market is still dominated by continuous glass fiber reinforced PP, PA and other general plastic thermoplastic preprepreg, continuous carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic preprepreg has not yet achieved large-scale batch production.
Some Institutes of higher learning and technological enterprises have also begun to participate in the research of continuous carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites. For example, Jilin University, Shanghai Jiaotong University and Shanghai Jieshijie New Materials Co., Ltd. have applied for a large number of patents successively.
Shanghai Jieshijie New Material (Group) Co., Ltd. has applied for the preparation of continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic preprepreg with carbon fiber tube and glass fiber as reinforcement and PP, PE, PA6, PA12 and PA1212 as matrix.
The preparation method of phenylacetylene side-based thermoplastic preprepreg reinforced by continuous carbon fibre tubes with 20% - 80% carbon fibre content in Jilin University, and the solution of continuous infiltration of carbon fibre tubes by Shanghai Jiaotong University, etc.
Although the preparation method of general thermoplastic preprepreg reinforced by continuous carbon fiber tube is becoming more and more mature, due to the high processing temperature of PPS, PEEK, PI and other engineering plastics, the production line needs to run steadily for a long time in the range of 350-450 C. Most domestic manufacturers still can not meet this standard.
Therefore, the preprepreg of high performance engineering plastics (PEEK, PPS or PI, etc.) reinforced by continuous carbon fiber tube has not been produced in batch in China.
In this case, it is of great significance to develop continuous carbon fiber reinforced high performance composite prepreg. On the one hand, high performance thermoplastic composites reinforced by continuous carbon fibre tubes have the same performance advantages as thermosetting carbon fibre tube composites, such as light weight, high strength, corrosion resistance, fatigue resistance and so on. It can greatly reduce weight and improve the performance of parts in practical application.
On the other hand, the preprepreg of high performance thermoplastic composites reinforced by continuous carbon fibre tubes has the advantages of low storage requirement, recyclability, secondary processing and utilization compared with the preprepreg of thermosetting carbon fibre tube composites, which is more in line with the national strategy of new energy and sustainable development.
However, it is not easy to develop high-performance composite preprepreg reinforced by continuous carbon fibre tubes. Foreign technology achievements of continuous carbon fibre tube reinforced high-performance thermoplastic composite materials have been marketed for a long time, but its core manufacturing technology and related equipment are strictly kept secret, and China has also implemented a more stringent blockade policy.
At present, most enterprises, research institutes and import and export trading companies can only rely on a small amount of imports, and bear higher application costs for them. Taking the continuous carbon fiber reinforced PEEK preprepreg as an example, the foreign price is equivalent to about 5500 yuan/kg, and the purchase of domestic enterprises is restricted.
Tariffs, transportation and other trivial issues will further push up the actual price, the actual price obtained is almost 2-3 times the cost price. This greatly limits the wide range and in-depth application of such products in the market. Therefore, the domestic development of high performance CFRP pipe reinforced thermoplastic preprepreg can only rely on their own.
In view of the market demand and application prospects of CFRP pipe reinforced thermoplastic preprepregs, we have invested heavily in Wuxi Zhishang New Materials Technology Co., Ltd. and built a production line for manufacturing CFRP pipe reinforced thermoplastic preprepreprepregs based on the mode of independent research and development and cooperation between manufacturers.
This prepreg production line can not only produce carbon fiber reinforced PEEK preprepreg in batches, but also be used to produce continuous carbon fiber reinforced PI, PPS and other thermoplastic high performance composite prepregs. Our company's new production line earlier sample is relatively smooth.
The continuous carbon fiber reinforced PEEK preprepreg has stable volume fraction and good surface condition. Its daily output can reach 100 square meters. After technical debugging and improvement, the output is expected to be further improved.
Continuous carbon fibre reinforced thermoplastic preprepreg will break the monopoly situation abroad after entering mass production, make up the gap between domestic and foreign related fields, and the relatively low price can also expand its in-depth application in transportation, medical equipment, civil equipment and other fields, so that high performance carbon fibre reinforced thermoplastic composites can truly enter the era of industrialization.