THE technology for the industrial production of ultra-high-strength carbon fiber, co-developed by a Shenzhen university, was awarded a technical certification Sunday, showing that China’s ultra-high-strength carbon fiber production technology and capacity have reached the advanced global levels.

The China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation gave the technical certification of the domestic industrial production technology for ZA60XC (T1000 grade) PAN-based carbon fiber with a capacity of thousands of tons to Changsheng Technology Co., which has teamed up with Shenzhen University to independently develop the technology.

Carbon fiber is a strategically important new material with remarkable performance, yet very expensive. It consists of extremely small fibers mostly derived from carbon atoms with good mechanical properties. It features both the intrinsic properties of carbon materials and the flexibility and machinability of textile fibers, making it indispensable for the economy and national defense.

The high-performance material is often referred to as the “king of new material” and “black gold.”

For the manufacturing industry, carbon fiber is a large-scale and widely needed advanced basic material, with a wide range of applications and a crucial role in building a new material industrial chain.

The global demand is expected to increase, along with carbon fiber’s potential for reinforcing materials such as replacing aluminum in the aerospace sector.

“For example, China’s first large homegrown passenger jet C919 is equipped with carbon fiber composite blades in its engines. The weight reduction achieved by using these materials is over 500 kilograms compared with traditional titanium alloys,” Xu Jian, chief scientist of Changsheng Technology and a professor at Shenzhen University, said.

“The aircraft’s overall weight is reduced by a ton, resulting in lower fuel consumption and increased range.”

According to Xu, T1000 is one of the highest-strength series of carbon fiber currently available globally. A one-meter-long bundle of T1000 carbon fiber weighs only 0.5 grams, but can bear a force of around 500 kilograms. A bundle of carbon fiber as thick as a finger can pull two airplanes.

For a long period of time, the most crucial advanced technology in carbon fiber, especially large-scale production technology for ultra-high-strength carbon fiber, has been monopolized by a few developed countries such as Japan and the United States.

Most carbon fiber production capacity in China remains at the T300 and T700 levels, and the high-end T800-grade products suffer from unstable product qualities.

China’s technological achievements for ultra-high-performance carbon fiber products of T1000-grade and above have only reached hundreds of tons, and large-scale and stable production of thousands of tons has not yet been achieved.

Since 2021, Changsheng Technology has collaborated with Shenzhen University to address the problem in large-scale production of T1000 carbon fiber in technical research and development.

“The biggest challenge in large-scale production is the qualification rate, which needs to be maintained at over 95%,” Xu said.

Shenzhen University has provided structural design optimization and analysis characterization testing to ensure that the product’s overall performance reaches the world’s advanced level. (Yang Yunfei)