On July 15, 2021, NEDO, Japan's new energy industry technology comprehensive development agency, announced that it has developed a fast-curing carbon fiber reinforced prepreg sheet that can be cured within 30 seconds, which is the shortest time in the world and can be cured. Store at room temperature.
Carbon fiber reinforced composite materials (CFRP) are used more and more as car body materials, but compared with existing metal materials, CFRP has a higher material cost and a slower molding speed, so the cost is higher. The purpose of developing fast-curing carbon fiber reinforced prepreg sheets is to promote the application and mass production of CFRP in the automotive field by solving these problems.
As one of NEDO's "Strategic Energy-saving Technology Innovation Plan/Practical Development Stage" theme projects, three companies, including DIC Co., Ltd., Seiren Co., Ltd., and Fukui Prefecture Industrial Technology Center, have been engaged in "Car Carbon Fiber" since July 2018. The project "Practical development of high-speed curing prepregs for composite materials" has carried out a three-year research work.
In the process of project research and development, DIC Co., Ltd. developed a "high-speed curing resin" using its polymer design technology, Seiren Co., Ltd. developed a "high-precision impregnation technology" using resin film formation and coating technology, and Fukui Industrial Technology Center developed "Air Spreading Technology" for rapid thinning of fiber bundles. The shortest curing time of carbon fiber reinforced prepreg sheets is 30 seconds, reaching the world's fastest level; the process cycle is greatly reduced, and the molding time is one-third to one-sixth of ordinary epoxy resin-based products, reducing production costs In addition, the general epoxy-based prepreg needs to be stored in a freezer/refrigerator warehouse, but the fast-curing prepreg developed this time can be stored at room temperature, reducing storage equipment and management burden.
The rapid curing carbon fiber reinforced prepreg sheet has established a mass production process. In order to meet more diversified needs, NEDO has set recommended molding conditions for compression molding, dual-belt compression molding and sheet winding molding. Starting in July 2021, NEDO will begin to use the demonstration line running in Seiren to provide sheet samples.
In the future, NEDO will carry out mass production of prepreg sheets on this demonstration line, continue to provide customers with trial samples, and promote the commercialization of prepreg sheets in automobiles and other fields by increasing productivity.