What are Carbon Fibres?
What are the Properties of Carbon Fibres?
Carbon
Fibres are
very thin (see nanoparticles).
They are less than one hundredth of a millimetre in diameter.
They can be more than three times as strong
as steel
but with less than one quarter of the density.
How are Carbon Fibres Made?
Carbon
fibres are made by heating long
polymer
chains
containing carbon and other atoms until
there is only carbon left.
The chains are heated where there is no oxygen
to prevent the carbon atoms reacting to form carbon
dioxide.
What are the Uses of Carbon Fibres?
Carbon
fibres are used to reinforce a large
number of materials.
The materials are mainly polymers
called carbon
fibre reinforced plastic.
The carbon fibres make the
polymer stronger.
Carbon
fibres are used to make
an increasingly large number of products
including aircraft, cars, boats,
sports equipment
(fishing rods, tennis
rackets, golf clubs) and
bicycles.
See also graphite and fullerenes.
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