Laptop materials: PPS, carbon fiber, metal, ABS

From the original bulky laptops to today’s lightweight, portable next-generation models, in addition to continuous system upgrades and ever-improving performance, the materials used have also undergone a dramatic transformation—laptops are becoming lighter and lighter, making them increasingly easy to carry around. The material requirements for these laptops are twofold: first, they must be robust and durable enough to protect the screen; second, they need to be light enough to be conveniently carried on the go.

Currently, commonly used notebook materials include: PPS; carbon fiber; metals (including titanium alloy, aluminum-magnesium alloy, and magnesium-aluminum alloy); and ABS engineering plastic. What are the respective advantages of each of these materials?

1. PPS material

Polyphenylene Sulfide (PPS) is a new type of high-performance thermoplastic resin with outstanding properties such as high-temperature resistance, corrosion resistance, radiation resistance, and flame retardancy. It is often referred to as "plastic gold." After being filled and modified, PPS is widely used as a specialty material. Meanwhile, engineering plastics can also be processed into various functional films, coatings, and composite materials, finding extensive applications in fields such as electronic devices and aerospace. Laptops made from PPS fully leverage its corrosion resistance and high hardness, ensuring that business professionals need not worry about damaging their devices due to accidental drops during office use.

2. Carbon fiber material

Carbon fiber is a new type of fiber material characterized by high strength and high modulus, with a carbon content exceeding 95%. It is widely used in aircraft, satellite manufacturing, and other high-precision industrial applications. Thanks to its remarkable advantages—such as light weight, high strength, and excellent corrosion resistance—carbon fiber offers unparalleled performance compared to other materials.

1. Lightweight: Made from carbon fiber, the body is thin and lightweight, weighing only about 1 kilogram, perfectly meeting the portability needs of business travelers on the go.

2. High Strength: Carbon fiber has a strength five times that of steel, far exceeding that of metallic materials. At the same time, it combines the softness and processability of textile fibers, offering both high strength and high toughness while remaining resistant to deformation. It’s also incredibly lightweight and easy to carry around when you’re on the go.

3. Corrosion Resistance: Carbon fiber materials can maintain their elasticity and strength virtually unchanged even when exposed to common media such as acids, alkalis, and salts. There’s absolutely no need to worry about rusting, thereby significantly extending the lifespan of the laptop.

However, due to the complex processing techniques and high costs associated with raw materials such as carbon fiber, the technological and labor costs required for carbon-fiber production remain stubbornly high, thus driving its price to be relatively expensive.

3. Metallic Materials

The common metal casing materials for laptops fall into three categories: titanium alloy, aluminum-magnesium alloy, and magnesium-aluminum alloy.

1. Titanium: Due to its chemically stable nature, excellent high-temperature resistance, ability to withstand low temperatures, resistance to strong acids and strong bases, high strength, and low density, titanium is known as the “space metal.” It is primarily used in the manufacture of aircraft engine components, followed by applications in structural parts for rockets and missiles. Additionally, it is increasingly being adopted in the medical-device industry. Moreover, titanium’s high toughness effectively protects laptops.

2. Aluminum-Magnesium Alloy: An aluminum-magnesium alloy is a metallic material made by adding 3% to 5% magnesium to aluminum, with the aim of enhancing its hardness. This material boasts exceptional thermal conductivity and high strength, while also offering advantages such as light weight, low density, excellent heat dissipation, and strong resistance to compression. It can meet the demands of modern laptops for high integration, thinness, miniaturization, impact resistance, and efficient heat dissipation. Moreover, this material is easy to color and process, giving laptops an attractive appearance. It is currently a commonly used material for lightweight and ultra-thin laptops.

3. Magnesium-aluminum alloy: This alloy has metallic magnesium as its primary component, accounting for as much as 90%; aluminum follows, making up 9%, while zinc accounts for just 1%. Magnesium-aluminum alloys boast excellent heat dissipation performance, light weight, and high compressive strength, making them a low-density engineering metal. However, this material has relatively high production costs and its corrosion resistance is inferior to that of aluminum-magnesium alloys and titanium.

4. ABS material

ABS engineering plastic is also known as PC-ABS. This material not only combines the heat resistance, stability, and impact resistance of PC resin but also boasts the excellent processing fluidity and outstanding plasticity of ABS resin. Thanks to a skin-like coating process, it offers an even wider range of color options, making it the preferred material for office workers who place great emphasis on personalized aesthetics. However, its drawbacks include a relatively heavy weight and poor thermal conductivity. Due to its low cost, most laptop manufacturers still widely use it in mid- to low-end models.