Difference Between Aramid and Carbon Fiber

The key difference between aramid and carbon fiber is that aramid fiber is tough, whereas carbon fiber is brittle.

Aramid fiber and carbon fiber are two polymer materials that look very similar. However, they are different polymer materials with different physical properties. Moreover, their properties determine the application of each material. Thus, there is a distinct difference between aramid and carbon fiber despite their similarity in appearance.

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Aramid Fiber
3. What is Carbon Fiber
4. Side by Side Comparison – Aramid vs Carbon Fiber in Tabular Form
5. Summary

What is Aramid Fiber?

Aramid fiber is a class of heat resistant synthetic fibers. Due to the favorable properties of this material, it is widely used in aerospace and military applications. Moreover, we can prepare aramid fibers via the reaction between an amine group and a carboxylic acid halide group. For example, some well-known aramid fibers include Kevlar, Twaron, and Nomex. Furthermore, aramid fiber is suitable for the manufacture for phone covers since it is nonconductive and does not interrupt signals.

Difference Between Aramid and Carbon Fiber

Figure 01: Use of Aramid Fiber

Properties of Aramid Fiber

The most important properties of this material are as follows:

High toughness
High flexibility
Does not conduct electricity at all
Light golden color
High melting point
High abrasion resistance
Resistance towards organic solvent
Sensitive to UV radiation
Low flammability
Sensitive to acids and salts

What is Carbon Fiber?

Carbon fiber is a polymer material containing very thin strands of the element carbon. Despite its size, this material has high tensile strength and is very strong. Moreover, carbon fiber is about twice as stiff as steel and five times as strong as steel.

Figure 02: Uses of Carbon Fiber due to its High Strength

Properties

The most important properties of carbon fiber are as follows:

Extremely strong
Brittle
High conductivity
Black color
High chemical resistance
High-temperature tolerance
Low thermal expansion

What is the Difference Between Aramid and Carbon Fiber?

Aramid fiber and carbon fiber appears similar, but they are two different materials. The key difference between aramid and carbon fiber is that the aramid fiber is tough, whereas carbon fiber is brittle. Furthermore, aramid fiber is less strong, but carbon fiber is extremely strong. Aramid fiber is suitable for the manufacture for phone covers because it is nonconductive and does not interrupt signals, but carbon fiber is not suitable for this application due to its high conductivity.

Furthermore, the below infographic shows more comparisons regarding the difference between aramid and carbon fiber.

Summary – Aramid vs Carbon Fiber

Aramid fiber and carbon fiber appears similar, but they are two different materials. The key difference between aramid and carbon fiber is that aramid fiber is tough, whereas carbon fiber is brittle.

Reference:

1. Johnson, Todd. “How Is Carbon Fiber Made?” ThoughtCo, Apr. 21, 2019, Available here.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Glass-aramid-hybrid-area used-for-reinforced-plastics” By User Cjp24; edited by User Jaybear also – File Glass aramid hybrid area.jpg (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “MotorcycleRacingGlove” By Thermos – Own work (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia