OREANDA-NEWS. On 20 April 2009 was announced, that the Supervisory Council of Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies has approved the Corporation’s participation in the project aimed at organizing the industrial production of pre-pregs composed of carbon or mineral fibers impregnated with nano-filled bonding agent.

The pre-pregs are partially finished composite materials produced by filling the reinforcing fiber base with evenly distributed polymer bonding agent. The saturation of the agent is done in a manner that ensures the best physical and mechanical properties of the material. The pre-preg technology allows to form complex shapes with the minimum mechanical adaptation.

These materials are widely used in production of the fuselage, wings, cowls and propellers of the up-to-date civil aircrafts and helicopters. The composite materials allow to reduce the weight and, as a result, fuel consumption of the aircrafts while increasing the mechanical strength characteristics and lifecycle. Another perspective market for pre-pregs is the production of blades for the wind-driven power plants. Besides, the pre-pregs can be used both in automotive and ship building industries for producing the ship hulls and nonbearing elements of the car bodies; in construction industry, including for reinforcing the concrete structures; manufacturing the prostheses and medical devices as well as sports equipment.

The project involves the creation of the production facilities for manufacturing a wide range of pre-pregs at the production sites in Moscow and Saratov. According to the forecasts, the volume of the product manufactured by the enterprise in 2011 will be about 300 tons growing up to 4500 tons in 2018.

In order to raize the production, the portfolio company will be established with participation of RUSNANO (48% of the chartered capital), the co-investor CJSC HC “Kompozit” (26% of the chartered capital) and the company which filed the application CJSC “Unikhimtek-Kompozit” (26% of the authorized capital). RUSNANO will invest 192 million rubles into the chartered capital of the portfolio company as well as provide the loan in the amount of 3.06 billion rubles for the time period of 10 years.

As a result of the project implementation in Russia, an up-to-date competitive industrial production of pre-pregs based on the nano-structured fibers and various bonding agents will be created for manufacturing the polymer composite materials and products on their base. This will allow to improve the competitiveness of local materials and composites on their base and significantly increase the rate of their penetration in industry.