Victrex (West Conshohocken, Pa.) has announced that its APTIV film has been used as the matrix polymer by Japanese materials supplier Mitsuya to develop a thin (40µm or less) prepreg sheet that reportedly offers lighter weight and higher performance than traditional carbon fiber composite materials. Mitsuya uses a technology that opens carbon fiber tows and continuously spreads them thinly and evenly, and then processes them into a sheet. Fibers that are spread out evenly make polymer impregnation easier. The new prepreg is a unidirectional (UD) sheet combining VICTREX PEEK polymer-based APTIV film and strips of carbon fiber.