Why is carbon fiber so expensive?

Carbon fiber is expensive for three main reasons:

1. Raw materials are expensive: modern carbon fiber raw materials mainly from polymer organic compounds and petroleum extracts. In general, 2-2.2 tons of raw silk to burn only 1 ton of carbon fiber, the cost of about 40,000-60,000 tons, is 4-5 times the steel.

Two, electricity is expensive: carbon fiber processing process is mainly heat treatment, requires a lot of electricity. Electricity accounts for 25% -30% of the production cost of carbon fiber, is a real power user.

Three. Expensive process: Because it is a multidisciplinary product, carbon fiber research and development costs are extremely high, and the production process also involves a variety of chemical catalytic reactions. The whole process is long and complicated. As a high-tech product, many companies have strict protection measures for their processes and formulas, so it can be said that the barrier to entry is quite high.

Carbon fiber is a kind of inorganic polymer fiber with carbon content higher than 90%, which is a microcrystalline graphite material obtained from carbonized graphitization of organic fiber. Generally, it is a specially treated fibrous compound or polymer. It has the inherent properties of hard carbon materials and the soft processing characteristics of textile fibers, known as the king of materials.

The initial form of this polymer is a bundle of elongated material with a diameter of only 0.005-0.01 millimeters. To produce carbon fiber, thousands of bundles of the material are tied together to form yarn-like bundles of fibers that can be used individually or woven into fabrics.

Or the yarns and fabrics are combined with epoxy resins and wound or molded to form a variety of composites. Carbon fiber-reinforced composites are commonly used in the manufacture of aircraft and spacecraft components, race car bodies, golf club shafts, bicycle frames, fishing rods, automotive springs, sailboat masts, and many other parts that require lightweight and high strength. The carbon fiber components you normally see are these carbon fiber composite components that have been processed and shaped.

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