From trees to high-performance ceramics
When a racing driver brakes, the discs and linings become red-hot. These parts are commonly made of carbon-fiber-reinforced carbon and are black at moderate temperatures. Car manufacturers and their suppliers would dearly like to extend the use of these special brake pads and other hard-wearing parts developed for racing vehicles to perfectly normal family cars - if only the cost was not prohibitive. This may now be possible using a new fiber-composite material that could almost be referred to as a “renewable ceramic”. Its carbon matrix is made of carbonized flax, hemp or wood fibers, which are then permeated with liquid silicon to form a high-strength, wear- and temperature-resi