Kordsa’s US subsidiary, Axiom Materials, is pleased to contribute to sustainable mobility with the introduction of its tow prepregs. Compared to traditional two-dimensional composite counterparts, these carbon fiber composite tow prepregs are specially designed to withstand high temperatures enabling their usage in transportation applications including electric, CNG and hydrogen powered aircraft and vehicles.

While lower CO2 emissions and lower ecological impact are the ultimate targets of mobility today, composite materials provide promising solutions to support this goal. Enabling the new federal government infrastructure plan and clean, sustainable energy initiatives, as well as aviation trends toward lower GHG emission power systems, Axiom Materials announced the launch of its latest carbon fiber composite narrow tow prepregs. Narrow tow prepregs are specially designed to improve safety, increase strength, reduce waste, and withstand high temperatures in applications such as critical battery containment, high pressure vessels, and structural components that will support next generation transportation.

Regarding this product range expansion Dr. Johnny Lincoln, CEO of Axiom Materials, commented, “Placing sustainability at the core of our activities, we are pleased to expand our capabilities in the composites field with 2 new prepregs. AX-6170 and AX-6201XL are flagship materials for us. They reflect our commitment toward advancing the goals of carbon neutrality, clean emissions, and environmental sustainability in advanced materials. Our new prepreg line offers marked advantages over traditional two-dimensional composite prepregs and hand lay-up methods. These products are designed for either Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) machines, or for machine-supported winding techniques used in the preparation of round, cylindrical, and rectangular three-dimensional vessels and structures. We are proud to say that our narrow slit prepregs improve passenger safety, enhance fuel efficiency, reduce waste, all the while enabling lower cost, higher performance, and more environmentally-benign transportation.”

AX-6170-C-150GT700-0.25'' RC37 prepreg is a ¼” inch wide cyanate ester tape for critical strength parts with 150 gsm weight, operating in high temperature environments up to 600⁰F (316°C), such as lithium ion battery containers. AX-6201XL-C-150GT700-0.25'' RC37 is a ¼” wide toughened, epoxy carbon prepreg, also 150 gsm weight, designed for the manufacture of larger parts requiring excellent surface quality. Both prepregs may be cured using vacuum bag oven or autoclave processes. The product is also available in a flame-retardant variant. Primary uses are large structural parts and pressure vessels for compressed nitrogen gas (CNG) and hydrogen fuel tanks for vehicles.

The resin systems are designed by Axiom Materials. AX-6170 and AX-6201XL will also be manufactured in Turkey at Kordsa’s Composite Technologies Center of Excellence. Kordsa’s Composite Technologies Center of Excellence is an exemplary ecosystem bringing industry and academia together, also contributing to a more sustainable future through its R&D studies and innovations.