DIC Corporation, Fukui-based Seiren Co., Ltd., and the Industrial Technology Center of Fukui Prefecture—which recently completed a research project aimed at commercializing fast-curing prepreg made with carbon fiber composites for automotive applications that was chosen as a major research project by the New Energy and Industrial Development Organization (NEDO) and subsidized for three years (July 2018–June 2021)—announced today that they have developed a fast-curing carbon fiber–reinforced prepreg sheet that boasts the world’s fastest curing time and can be stored at room temperature. The three entities have also developed a mass-production process and this month will begin providing samples of this innovative sheet produced using a demonstration plant operated by Seiren.
Carbon fiber–reinforced prepreg sheet is a sheet-form intermediate material made by processing bundles of carbon fibers into flat sheets and impregnating the sheets with resin. Thanks to its light weight and exceptional strength, carbon fiber–reinforced prepreg sheet is finding increased application in aircraft, spacecraft and automobiles, with needs in these industries rising for materials that improve fuel economy and reduce body weight, underscoring positive expectations for further demand growth in the years ahead. However, because molding and processing carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) composite materials, including prepreg sheets, have typically been time-consuming, technologies that would shorten molding times have been seen as crucial to their wider use.
The research project involving the brought together DIC’s Radiation-curable resin (cures in as little as 30 seconds), which leverages its original polymer design technologies; a high-speed tow spreading technology owned by the Industrial Technology Center of Fukui Prefecture; and Seiren’s high-precision impregnation technologies, which capitalize on its resin film–forming and coating capabilities, to realize a carbon fiber–reinforced prepreg sheet with a world-leading minimum curing time of 30 seconds. Moreover, unlike conventional epoxy prepreg sheets, this new offering can be stored at room temperature, eliminating the need for frozen or refrigerated storage facilities and thus reducing storage costs.
Going forward, DIC and Seiren will continue working together to encourage adoption of this carbon fiber–reinforced prepreg sheet by manufacturers in multiple industries, including automakers. By improving molding and processing productivity, the companies look forward to further advancing the popularity of CFRP composite materials and in so doing to helping lower the weight, improve the fuel economy and reduce the energy consumption of finished products.
