New Material: Carbon Fiber Has Great Potential In Textile Industry

Carbon fiber is a kind of high-strength and high modulus fiber with more than 90% carbon content, which has high strength, small specific gravity, high temperature resistance, friction resistance, corrosion resistance and other characteristics. It is mainly composed of carbon element, with fiber shape, soft and can be processed into various fabrics. The proportion of carbon fiber is less than 1/4 of steel, but its strength is 7-9 times of steel. ?1

Carbon fiber is formed by pyrolysis and carbonization of organic fibers such as polyacrylonitrile (PAN), asphalt or viscose under high temperature environment. According to the type of precursor, carbon fiber can be divided into three categories: polyacrylonitrile (PAN) based carbon fiber, pitch based carbon fiber and viscose based carbon fiber. Among them, PAN based carbon fiber is one of the most widely used and the largest output due to its low process difficulty and excellent product quality and mechanical properties.

Carbon fiber has a wide range of applications, including aerospace, rail transit, ship vehicles, new energy and other fields. For example, carbon fiber is used to manufacture aircraft, launch vehicles, wind turbine blades, sports goods such as tennis rackets and bicycles. In addition, carbon fiber is also used to manufacture high-performance composites, further expanding its application field. Now, the development prospect of carbon fiber in the textile industry is discussed.

The development of carbon fiber in the textile industry is mainly reflected in the following aspects:

　　1. Application of high-performance fiber materials: As an important inorganic high-performance fiber, carbon fiber has been rapidly developed and applied in the textile industry due to its excellent mechanical properties and soft processability of textile fibers. It is used to strengthen resin materials and form carbon fiber reinforced resin (CFRP), which has practical and potential applications in many fields.

　　2. Lightweight and efficiency improvement of textile machinery: carbon fiber materials are used in textile machinery parts to reduce energy consumption and improve production efficiency due to their lightweight and high-strength characteristics. For example, the use of carbon fiber shuttle and arrow shaft not only reduces the weight, but also improves the shuttle frequency and service life.

　　3. Application expansion of industrial textiles: the application of carbon fiber in industrial textiles, especially in the lightweight of transportation tools, has promoted the iterative upgrading of carbon fiber application technology. In addition, carbon fiber is also used to make new energy equipment components such as wind turbine blade girder and carbon carbon composite crucible for photovoltaic, which promotes the realization of the goal of "double carbon".

　　4. Technological innovation and product research and development: The textile industry is improving the added value and market competitiveness of products through technological innovation, such as the research and development of carbon fiber composites. Policies also encourage enterprises to accelerate R&D and innovation around new fiber materials, functional textiles, intelligent manufacturing equipment and other fields.

　　5. Green and low-carbon development: the use of carbon fiber materials contributes to energy conservation and emission reduction. For example, in the application of maglev train body materials, the use of carbon fiber composite materials has reduced the weight by 30%, increased passenger capacity by 20%, reduced operating energy consumption, and made it more energy-saving and environmentally friendly.

　　6. Policy support and industrial agglomeration: national policies continue to promote the healthy and orderly development of carbon fiber, and plan to form large carbon fiber enterprise groups and industrial clusters with international competitiveness. The local government has also introduced relevant policies to support the development of carbon fiber industry.

7. Market size and capacity growth: With the progress of carbon fiber technology and the reduction of cost, the market demand continues to grow, and China has become the world's largest carbon fiber production country.

To sum up, the development of carbon fiber in the textile industry is characterized by technological progress, expansion of application fields, industrial agglomeration and green development, which is promoting the development of the textile industry towards high-end, intelligent and green direction.

The development of carbon fiber in outdoor clothing and supplies is mainly reflected in the following aspects:

　　1. Lightweight and high-performance: carbon fiber has become an ideal material for outdoor clothing and supplies due to its excellent mechanical properties and lightweight characteristics. Its specific strength and specific modulus are higher than most traditional materials, which can significantly reduce the weight of the product while maintaining the strength. This is particularly important for outdoor equipment that needs to be carried for a long time, such as backpacks, tents, solar umbrellas, etc.

　　2. Widely used in sports equipment: carbon fiber has been widely used in various outdoor sports equipment, such as golf clubs, fishing poles, bicycles, skis, etc. These products take advantage of the lightweight and high-strength characteristics of carbon fiber to improve the performance and user experience. For example, the frame of a carbon fiber bicycle can reduce the weight by 40%, thus improving the riding speed and comfort.

　　3. Durability and fatigue resistance: carbon fiber material has excellent corrosion resistance and fatigue resistance, which makes it perform well in outdoor environment. The products made of carbon fiber can maintain good performance and extend service life in extreme weather or for a long time.

　　4. Market demand growth: With the popularity of outdoor sports and the increasing demand for high-performance equipment, the demand for carbon fiber in outdoor clothing and supplies continues to grow. In 2023, the demand for carbon fiber in sports and leisure will reach 26.24%, becoming the largest demand field.

　　5. Technological progress and cost reduction: With the continuous improvement of production process, the production cost of carbon fiber is gradually reduced, making its application in outdoor clothing and supplies more popular. In the future, it is expected that the application of carbon fiber in outdoor sports equipment will continue to expand, especially in the high-end market.

　　6. Environmental protection and sustainability: The recyclability and environmental protection characteristics of carbon fiber make it have a competitive advantage in today's sustainable development oriented market. Many brands began to pay attention to the recycling of carbon fiber and promote the use of green materials.

To sum up, carbon fiber has a broad development prospect in outdoor clothing and supplies. With the progress of technology and the increase of market demand, it is expected that more innovative products will be launched.

The development prospects of carbon fiber in the field of protective clothing are mainly reflected in the following aspects:

　　1. The development of high-performance fiber raw materials: With the continuous breakthrough of carbon fiber technology and the large-scale and stable development of production, the carbon fiber industry will gradually realize import substitution, the profitability of enterprises is expected to gradually recover, and the market will move towards a healthy development path. The fibers for special protective clothing are developing towards differentiation, functionalization and high-performance. The upgrading of high-performance fiber materials will drive the continuous improvement of the protective performance of special protective clothing.

　　2. Multifunction, compounding and intellectualization: special protective clothing is developing towards multi-function, compounding and intellectualization. Workers working in special environments often face multiple hazards, so special protective clothing with multiple protective functions will become a development trend, such as flame retardant and anti-static compatible flame retardant and anti-static clothing. At the same time, with the development of phase change materials, shape memory functional materials, nanotechnology and microelectronics technology, intelligent protective clothing with real-time feedback and self-adjusting will also become the development trend of protective clothing in the future.

　　3. Healthy and comfortable, fashionable and beautiful: Due to the harsh use environment, the protective function is the main performance of special protective clothing. However, with people's demand for comfort and fashion, in the future, special protective clothing will pay more attention to the coexistence of functionality, comfort and beauty, pay attention to reducing individual load, and pay attention to the needs of clothing and human body microclimate regulation.

　　4. Market demand growth: with global warming, frequent natural disasters, local wars and increasingly severe terrorist attacks, the special protective clothing industry is facing challenges and opportunities. Especially in recent years, asymmetric wars, inter state and cross-border terrorist activities still exist, the number of global armed conflicts and the number of fatal/non fatal weapon injuries continue to increase, posing a huge threat to the life safety of military police law enforcement personnel and the people, which will also speed up bulletproof textiles, especially lightweight bulletproof textiles using high-performance fibers, Popularization and application in ensuring the life safety of soldiers, police and law enforcement personnel.

　　5. Expansion of application fields: The characteristics of high-performance textile fibers that are lighter, softer and more comfortable also make the application range of bulletproof clothing gradually expand from the military to the police, law enforcement and security personnel, and even the political and ordinary civilian fields.

　　6. Environmental protection and sustainable development: the carbon fiber industry will pay more attention to environmental protection and sustainable development, and promote green production and recycling. On the one hand, the environmental pollution during carbon fiber production can be reduced by improving the production process and reducing energy consumption; On the other hand, strengthen the research on carbon fiber recycling and reuse technology to improve resource utilization efficiency and reduce environmental pressure. To sum up, carbon fiber has a broad development prospect in the field of protective clothing. It not only has great potential in technical innovation and product performance improvement, but also shows a strong growth momentum in market demand and application field expansion.

The recycling of carbon fiber after use in the textile industry is completely feasible, and is becoming an important research direction and industrial practice.

The following key points support this conclusion:

1. Technical breakthrough: many enterprises and research institutions have made breakthroughs in carbon fiber recycling technology. For example, Holy Technologies announced a major breakthrough, providing a feasible solution for the recycling of carbon fiber components, which can properly recycle carbon fiber components instead of degrading them. Vartega also announced the end of its $10 million preferred equity financing to promote innovation in carbon fiber recycling technology.

　　2. Environmental protection and sustainable development: the recycling of carbon fiber materials meets the requirements of environmental protection and sustainable development. The production process of carbon fiber does not use solvents, which has certain environmental protection characteristics, and carbon fiber reinforcement materials are environmentally friendly construction materials.

　　3. Policy support: The Chinese government has issued relevant policies to accelerate the recycling of waste textiles. It is proposed that by 2025, the recycling rate of waste textiles will reach 25%, and the output of recycled fibers of waste textiles will reach 2 million tons.

　　4. Recycling technology: The recycling methods of carbon fiber composites can be summarized as physical recycling, chemical treatment and pyrolysis. The School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of Shanghai Jiaotong University has successfully developed the first new cracking and recycling technology and equipment for carbon fiber composite waste with fully independent intellectual property rights in China, and has reached the international level of large-scale production capacity.

5. Economic benefits of recycling: The cost of recycling carbon fiber is only 50% - 80% of that of the original carbon fiber, and the retention rate of mechanical properties of high-quality recycled carbon fiber is high, generally reaching more than 80%.

6. Market application: recycled carbon fiber can be made into chopped carbon fiber particles, carbon fiber felt, and finally into reinforced plastics, thermoplastic or thermosetting reinforcement materials or thermal insulation materials.

7. International cooperation and research: Worldwide, enterprises and research institutions in Japan, Germany, the United States and other countries are actively developing carbon fiber recycling technology, and some technologies have been industrialized.

In conclusion, the recovery of carbon fiber after use in the textile industry is not only technically feasible, but also has important environmental and economic benefits, and is also an important way to achieve sustainable development. With technological progress and policy support, the recycling of carbon fiber will be further promoted and optimized.