As a highly specialized and engineering-oriented blank manufacturer, we often get asked about materials, and what are truly the best fabrics for making blanks.
A number of you have asked about graphene lately – here’s the lowdown.
Graphene was the name given to a single layer of connected carbon atoms when they were first observed in the 1960’s. It is made, in elementary terms, by removing or ‘peeling’ a single layer of atoms, off a lump or sheet of graphite.
Graphene has been around for quite a while and hit the commercial headlines in earnest around 2010. A single layer of carbon atoms (graphene) is incredibly thin, around 30 times thinner than a single strand of carbon fiber that we use in our rods.
It’s incredibly strong for its weight. Theoretical illustrations of its strength, such as a graphene hammock holding the weight of a cat, but only weighing the weight of a cat’s whisker, get folk very excited!
The thermal, electrical and magnetic properties of graphene and that it is almost transparent, offer exciting opportunities for the electronics industry, and this is arguably where it has most promise.
illustration by Airi Iliste
The current commercial industry practise within the recreational composites market is to mix a small amount of graphene flakes, commonly called Nanopowder, into the resin that makes the carbon fibre epoxy impregnated material (prepeg) that fishing blanks are made from.
CTS investigated graphene as an additive to our resin system some years ago. We found no evidence that adding graphene nanopowder to the epoxy resin improved any of the characteristics we were looking for in a material for fishing rods.
Conversely, we found evidence that adding more than 10% nanopowder to the epoxy matrix, increases its brittleness. In a fishing rod we rely on toughened epoxy resin systems to distribute impact shocks, protect the laminate and support the fiber in compression.
One of the main benefits of adding graphene nano powder to composite materials is to improve electrical conductivity. Naturally, not something we’re particularly wanting to do with fishing rods!
We concluded that adding a bit of graphene to our resins might be good for the marketing department and our ability to sell a higher priced product, but marginally detrimental to performance.
CTS is at the forefront of any developments in the composite industry. We attend trade shows around the world in search of the latest advances in both materials, equipment and procedures.
Our in-house test lab provides us with real world data, with testing specific to our requirements. It’s where we constantly ask the question: “Does it improve on what we have?”
We live and breathe our ‘Hooked on Technology’ mantra. With CTS, you can be assured you are getting the best, most advanced blanks in the world.
CTS is about Performance. Pure. Simple.
