Italian firm Xenia Materials has unveiled Xebrid, a new line of thermoplastic composites that are reinforced with hybrid fillers made of carbon and glass fiber mixes.
Fiberglass and carbon fibers both are well-known reinforcements, officials with Vicenza-based Xenia said in a news release. Carbon fibers also offer rigidity and lightness. The possibility to combine variable percentages of reinforcements together with different polymer matrices, they added, allows processors to have a wide range of physical and mechanical properties, depending on the application.
Xebrid can be used as a metal replacement to optimize cost and performance in industrial and agricultural equipment, officials said. The material's advantages can also be applied in applications where lightness and processability are the main requirements, such as sporting equipment and aeronautics.
Xenia has collaborated with materials firms Arkema and PlastiComp. The firm is exhibiting Mach 14-16 at the JEC World 2017 composites trade show in Paris.