Something Different - Artificial Graphene Brake Pads from China

[michael007]

I'm big into mountain biking and recently read about some graphene brake pads that supposedly have better performance.
https://bikerumor.com/absoluteblack...isc-brake-pads-promise-fade-free-performance/

Real graphene is too expensive for something like brake pads and so the article says the pad compound uses a “specially modified graphene”.

After doing further research, both the Chinese and the Australians make something similar to graphene using plant materials.

Chinese article:

From August 25th to 26th, the 2016 China Science and Technology Innovation Talent Investment and Financing Training Camp hosted by the Talent Center of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Science and Technology was held in Jiangning High-tech Park. After layers of selection, 9 entrepreneurial teams stood out from a large number of competitors across the country, and held a road show on the 26th to connect with financing institutions. Among them, the new technology of Jiangsu Jinmaisui New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. using "straw to make graphene brake pads" has opened people's minds.

The burning of straw by farmers has brought great pollution to the atmosphere. Is there a better way to deal with it? Xiong Wanjun, Chief Engineer of Jiangsu Jinmaisui New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. said: Yes! In his eyes, straw is a treasure, which can be made into artificial graphene, and then made into graphene brake pads.

The reporter learned that graphene is a two-dimensional crystal composed of carbon atoms with only one layer of atomic thickness. In 2004, physicists Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov of the University of Manchester successfully separated graphene from graphite. The material is not only thin but also strong, with a breaking strength 200 times stronger than the best steel.

The researchers of Jiangsu Jinmaisui New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. discovered that graphene does not have to be obtained from graphite mines, and graphene can also be extracted from waste straw. The reporter saw from the vcr video brought by Xiong Wanjun that the workers first crushed the straw and put it into a carbonization furnace for smokeless incineration. After carbonization, graphitization, redox and other steps, artificial graphene was produced. The artificial graphene is then processed through mixing, pressing, sintering, heat treatment, strengthening treatment, machining and other processes to finally complete the production of automobile brake pads. "Look, this is a video of our braking experiment. Two BMWs of the same model, one uses traditional ceramic brake pads and the other uses graphene brake pads. The latter brake distance is obviously shorter and the noise is lower." Xiong Wanjun said .

The experimental data further shows that the high temperature resistance of graphene brake pads is 13 times that of traditional brake pads, the impact strength is 4 times that of traditional brake pads, the wear resistance is 6 times that of traditional brake pads, and the acid and alkali resistance is 13 times that of traditional brake pads. 15 times.

Compared with natural graphene, graphene brake pads made of straw have low cost, less environmental pollution, and abundant raw materials. The annual return is expected to be 30%. At present, Jiangsu Jinmaisui New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. has signed acquisition agreements with more than 20 major rice straw producers in the province, which not only protects the environment, but also increases farmers' income. At present, the company's straw graphene brake pads have been identified as "international initiative, domestic advanced product" by the Jiangsu Provincial Economic and Information Commission, and have passed the provincial new product appraisal, and the product has also obtained the European market exemption certificate.

Australian article: https://www.technology.org/2019/06/...-make-graphene-200-times-cheaper-and-greener/

My Honda HR-V needed some new pads. OEM served me well but I was curious if there's something out there that can give better performance than OE but with no dust.

These two brands came up when searching the forum:

Carbotech 1521:
Peak Friction Coefficient: ~0.45.
426C

Dixel M:
Friction Coefficient: 0.39min, 0.4average, 0.52max.
500C

Chinese Graphene Pads:
Friction Coefficient: 0.45-5.
650C

Carbotech originally said they could make 1521 pads for the HR-V but then ghosted me after realizing the work was worth more than the efforts.

The Canadian distributor for Dixel also ghosted me after asking if the Dixel M's can be special ordered from Japan.

Since the Chinese tech is patented and supposedly has ECE R90 E-Mark from Europe, I decided to give them a try.

I've only driven on them for a few hundred miles but so far, the pedals do feel like I have to press less so the friction coefficient does seem to be accurate.

Had a lot of doubts but I think I'm going to be very happy with these.

Total cost paid: $100USD for both front and back pads + shipping to Canada

Translated screenshots:

 

[Rand]

be interesting to see if they dont fail after a couple years... would be my main concern.

Pad delamination etc.

 

[totegoat]

Not on my bikes, thanks anyway.

 

[Greasymechtech]

Linney Tuning develops graphene-enhanced brake pads | Graphene-Info

Linney Tuning, a UK-based company that specializes in the research and development of innovative performance tuning components and custom calibration solutions, is using bi-layer graphene in the development of brake pads - currently in the development/testing stage. In addition, Linney states...

www.graphene-info.com

 

[michael007]

be interesting to see if they dont fail after a couple years... would be my main concern.

Pad delamination etc.

My region uses a ton of salt in winter so it'll be a great environment for testing.

 

[Hermann]

Is not everything from China artificial?

 

[michael007]

Is not everything from China artificial?

Maybe it's just me but since covid - we've been experiencing things like inflation, shrinkflation, formula changes, ingredient changes.. etc.

They say they meet European ECE Regulation 90 so unless that's being faked - I trust they'll perform as advertised.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECE_Regulation_90

If anyone from the EU knows how to look up their registration number, looks like it's E20 90R-02A0162/0001

 

[Greasymechtech]

What brand and PN did you use? source?

 

[michael007]

What brand and PN did you use? source?

Bosin Brake is the brand. From the research I've done, it's owned by the company mentioned in the Chinese article found in the first post - Jiangsu Jinmaisui New Energy Technology Co., Ltd.

https://shop317094334.taobao.com/
This is their store on Taobao, which is like the Amazon marketplace of China

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z09.2.0.0.5ed62e8dwbrpoR&id=541400394928&_u=320cfmjndh5aac
This was the product listing I used. Said it was "Suitable for Toyota Camry RAV4 Honda CRV HRV"
Shows front wheels are 368yuan ($53.58USD) and rear wheels are 320yuan ($46.59USD).

To make sure 100% there are no issues with compatibility, I sent them two screenshots from the Brembo part lookup:
https://www.bremboparts.com/america/en/catalogue-us/honda-2016-hr-v-ex/070094

They replied confirming the correct part numbers will be sent:

You'd have to use a buying agent. They will communicate with the seller, buy it on your behalf and forward the package with full insurance (at least CSSBuy will).

SuperBuy/CSSBuy/Pandabuy are some are the good agents and most take PayPal which is great.

Once the agent gets the package, they send you the weight and some quality control photos to make sure the correct part numbers were sent.

All these buying agents have shipping calculators on their websites to calculate shipping costs:
example: https://www.cssbuy.com/?go=page&action=estimates
CSSBuy shows it can cost $52US to have these sent to the United States and it'll take a month to arrive.

If anyone has trouble confirming part numbers or have questions about the ordering process, feel free to PM.

 

[michael007]

Got to experience a good test last night.

Thankfully the deer walked away unharmed and there were no damages.

Warning: foul language in the video


One interesting I’ve noticed compared to the OEM pads is less of a jerk (body shifting forward a little) when coming to a stop or a rapid deceleration. Not sure how it’s possible. Maybe someone with more knowledge can chime in.

The manufacturer gives a demonstration in their marketing video.

 

[Pew]

Got to experience a good test last night.

Thankfully the deer walked away unharmed and there were no damages.

Warning: foul language in the video

One interesting I’ve noticed compared to the OEM pads is less of a jerk (body shifting forward a little) when coming to a stop or a rapid deceleration. Not sure how it’s possible. Maybe someone with more knowledge can chime in.

The manufacturer gives a demonstration in their marketing video.

Lots of marketing. There's a saying in the track world; brakes don't stop cars, tires do. The video is pure marketing:

1. Springs control the front/rear sway of a car during consistent braking and acceleration. Brake pads will not adjust the overall front/back sway of the car but may make it smoother depending on the coefficient of the friction at a given temperature.
   1. Increasing the rear friction coefficient by change the rear brake system or increasing rear tire size, softening the rear springs, or stiffening the front spring will make the front dip less.
2. The suited up guy definitely doesn't look like he's going as fast as the normally dressed guy. Plus look at the body position and leg movement at brake initiation.

I don't even understand how they got this graph.

 

[michael007]

Lots of marketing. There's a saying in the track world; brakes don't stop cars, tires do. The video is pure marketing:

1. Springs control the front/rear sway of a car during consistent braking and acceleration. Brake pads will not adjust the overall front/back sway of the car but may make it smoother depending on the coefficient of the friction at a given temperature.
   1. Increasing the rear friction coefficient by change the rear brake system or increasing rear tire size, softening the rear springs, or stiffening the front spring will make the front dip less.
2. The suited up guy definitely doesn't look like he's going as fast as the normally dressed guy. Plus look at the body position and leg movement at brake initiation.

I don't even understand how they got this graph.

Thanks for sharing.

1. It feels like the car doesn't jerk as much when braking but it could be some kind of bias after seeing their marketing or maybe something was wrong with my old brakes.

2. Good eye on those details, I didn't notice them at first.

It also looks like they might have hired a foreign actor to show off their products. Heard they like to do that as some think it makes them look more legitimate.

I don't even understand how they got this graph.

For the second graph, they're suggesting other pads start to experience brake fade after 500C but theirs stays stable until 650C.

When you look at the competitors from the first post, the data doesn't seem farfetched unless they're lying about their own numbers.

---------------------------------
Carbotech 1521:
Peak Friction Coefficient: ~0.45.
426C

Dixel M:
Friction Coefficient: 0.39min, 0.4average, 0.52max.
500C

Chinese Graphene Pads:
Friction Coefficient: 0.45-5.
650C
---------------------------------

Regarding the first graph:

I think they were trying to say their pads were able to brake in the same manner when the test was repeated.

Maybe you're able to make more sense with these graphs from another listing of theirs.

Sorry for the bad resolution with the graphs earlier.. Shouldn't have used my phone to translate.

 

[Pew]

Interesting graphs - lots of editing in the pictures so I wonder if they stole somebody else's graph and relabled it. I wonder how they came up with those datasets - especially the continuous one. Overall to my [non-expert] eyes the data looks more like a way to test tires since most braking systems should be able to activate the ABS from the factory, especially with the vehicles they showed in their video.

Their claim of working as advertised up to 650C and the mU could possibly still be truthful when comparing this graphene pad to other semi-metallic race-only pads.

 

[JHZR2]

Graphene is claimed to be a wonder material for all sorts of things. If it works well for brakes, great!

I’m sure this company isn’t any different than other third world brakes from name brands. The info they show looks decent.

Personally I’m not interested in my money going to pay for more spy balloons or other equipment. So no thanks…

 

[michael007]

They had this on top of the graphs so maybe these were the vehicles tested and not the ones in the video.

View attachment 148848

repost as the image was accidentally deleted

 

[dfarr67]

The brakes may actually be fine- but there's a dozen other countries where I take their manufacturing quality seriously.

 

[michael007]

You’re not the only one who only believes in more serious manufacturers -

when I look at sales numbers on the Chinese marketplaces, foreign brands like TRW or Bosch have a ton more sales than these guys but it could be that $50/axle is too high for the average Chinese citizen.

Personally, I don’t like having to deal with brake dust even though ceramic brakes are much better than metallic. So far, my wheels have never been cleaner and the stopping power has never felt better. If they did get EU certification, chances are there won’t be any issues so fears might be unfounded.

When I search the patent numbers, info comes up showing how they spent close to a decade developing this so it’s the tech that makes it special.

I can’t imagine other manufacturers doing something like this unless they can buy the artificial graphene already prepared, at a low cost.

in 2019, they were in a research journal:

also found this article from 2016 which discusses why China was burning wheat - they started using pesticides and the fertilizer companies didn’t want to buy it anymore.

These brake pads are a pretty cool solution to the problem.

Maybe it would have also saved salmons from finding their way back to their spawning ground on the West Coast

 

[dumkid]

curious how good they are compared to name brand ceramic brakes? I'd try them maybe.

 

[michael007]

curious how good they are compared to name brand ceramic brakes? I'd try them maybe.

There's a comparison on their product page. It's in the first post on here but hard to read.

I've driven original Honda pads and Akebono Euro.

The Euro's feel soft and mushy which I never liked.

OEM Honda's seemed perfect at the time but so far, these graphene pads have created a new bar to reach.

Lighter pushes on the brake pedal need to be applied and somehow, it all feels significantly smoother.

Will be glad to help confirm the correct part numbers if anyone else pulls the trigger.

Shipping from China is affordable but shipping anything back to China is not so it's important to make sure no mistakes are made.

 

[Pew]

@michael007 I found a technical article about the effects of graphene friction and wear if you're interested. I'm reading it now and trying to understand it.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667056921000080