Industrial high-strength fibre has been extensively used in daily lives. In addition to the well-known carbon fibre, “aramid fibre” has become the most comprehensive application and the largest production for the high-strength, flame retardant, and corrosion resistant fibre. Thus strong fibre is considered irreplaceable in fields such as national defense, aerospace, automotive, and energy materials. For flourishing market demand, an annual output of aramid fibre is nearly 100K tons in the word. Only several countries, including the US, Japan, Russia, and South Korean, however, are capable of mass production. Among them, the US and Japan occupy 90% market share.
Developing by DuPont company, “Kevlar” is an aramid fibre with currently the world’s leading high-strength fibre. Their strength is 5 times stronger than steel, with merely 1/5 the density of steel. In fact, the light-weight bullet proof clothing is mostly made by Kevlar.
Read more on the National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center website
Image: Customized “mini wet-spinning machine”. Credit NSRRC