Zoltek Companies, Inc. (headquartered St. Louis, Missouri, USA), the global leader in industrial grade carbon fiber, has partnered with A + Composites (headquartered Weselberg, Germany), the tailor-made fiber composite manufacturer to create a carbon fiber polypropylene UD tape.

This carbon fiber polypropylene UD tape possesses remarkable properties.

• 50% fiber volume fraction
• 50 µm thickness
• 50k Zoltek PX35 Carbon Fiber Tow
• 50 g/m² fiber aerial weight

“This particular UD tape is Unique because it is fully impregnated with a 50k large tow carbon fiber with polypropylene while remaining extremely thin at 50 µm. Comparable thicknesses have not been achieved for fully impregnated thermoplastic carbon UD tapes in the past,” explained Jakob Goerzen, A+ Composites, “especially with large tow carbon fiber. Therefore, this product is on par with regular tow applications for a fraction of the cost and at full availability of industrial carbon fibers.”

“This development shows the versatility and potential of Zoltek’s 50k PX35 carbon fiber tow and the technical expertise of the engineers at A+ Composites, who have the know how to use this product in an innovative way.” Tobias Potyra, Director of Sales EU, Zoltek. Thin tapes such as these offer enormous potential for weight savings, increased mechanical performance and are particularly suited for aesthetic applications. In addition, very small bending radii can be realized, which means, winding applications with very small diameters and tighter radii in forming processes can be achieved.