Glossary of composite materials

Name Description
3K-C Every strand of fiber in this 3K-C weave is made up of 3,000 individual Carbon filaments. The 3K-C significantly reduces vibrations to create an enlarged sweet spot and produce a flat ball trajectory.
ALC A woven combination of Arylate and Carbon (ALC). Used in popular blades such as the Timo Boll Spirit. The speed and large sweet spot of Carbon combined with the great vibration control and soft feel of Arylate.
Aramid Aramid fibers (or Kevlar™ which is a trade name) are a class of synthetic fibers that are heat resistant and/or have good mechanical properties.
The word Aramid comes from the contraction of Aromatic Polyamide.

High strength, high stiffness fiber. Slightly softer than Arylate. Usually yellow.
Aramid Carbon A composite material comprised of a soft Aramid fiber and hard Carbon fiber. Aramid fiber makes the blade fast but not quite so hard as pure Carbon.
Premium Aramid and high elasticity Carbon are woven together to create a sharp & fastball and reduce the vibration of hitting the ball.
Aratox Softer and more elastic (Donic & Andro) fibre than Aramid.
Arylate Also known as Vectran™. A spun resin-based liquid crystal polymer used in high strength applications, such as body armour. Typically harder and stiffer than Aramid and Kevlar™. Fibres are usually blue or pale yellow. It is a reinforcing fiber used to expand the sweet spot of the blade and also to provide unsurpassed vibration control.
Axylium The second-generation Super fiber Axylium with a special weaving method added to the iconic orange color has great features such as stronger repulsion, a clearer and pure feel, and an improved vibration damping effect.
Axylium Carbon Axylium + X-Carbon

XIOM Blade R&D team created the most ideal combination by weaving Carbon, which plays the role of shooting a ball sharply and quickly, together with Axylium with high vibration damping effect.

X-Carbon is the basis of the new Xiom blade material, and is currently the most used in blade manufacturing, and is now used a lot by weaving it with other new special materials.
Basalt Very hard volcanic rock.
Black Cloth Black fiber.
Blue Texalium™
CAF CA-Fiber (Control Assist Fiber) is a special material derived from wood. As it is very flexible, it helps to hold the ball which offers a higher level of control. Additionally, the tensile strength is high so there is also good speed.
Carbon A layer of Carbon is often used in blades in order to increase the speed and the sweet spot, i.e., to make more of the blade surface ideal for ball contact. Carbon also tends to stiffen the blade. While fast, the bigger sweet spot provides for a shocking level of control.
Carbon Fleece Zylon®
Carbon Glass fibre (G-Carbon) Glass fibre and Carbon combined into a resin base. Stiff and soft, lower speed than other Carbon composites. Shatters easily.
Carbon Kevlar™
Carbon Net™ Carbon fabric much lighter than other types of Carbon but nevertheless providing all the necessary rigidity that is responsible for the speed of a wood.
Carbotox Softer and more elastic (Donic & Andro) fibre than Carbon.
CNF Very thin fiber obtained by finely loosening plant fibers such as wood to Nanometer size. Cellulose Nano Fiber (CNF) enables blades with low vibration, providing the feeling of "holding the ball" to the blade, despite high reaction values.
Energy Carbon 12k The high-end 12k Energy Carbon is based on the renowned Spread Tow Carbon fibre technology with 88 g of Carbon fibre per m2. This creates a lightweight Carbon fibre which amplifies the energy of the blade and provides better energy transfer across the entire surface.
Flax Cloth BF3 Textile fibre.
Glass fibre Similar to Carbon in its purpose but resulting in less blade stiffness.
JLC JL Carbon
Kevlar™ Poly-para-phenylene terephthalamide is a polymer consisting of aromatic nuclei (benzene) separated by amide groups. It belongs to the Aramid fiber group. Poly-para-phenylene terephthalamide was discovered and marketed under the registered name of Kevlar by DuPont (E.I. du Pont de Nemours and company).
Kevlar is a synthetic fiber that has exceptional qualities of tensile and elongation resistance. Only the spider web (3 times stronger), and carbon nanotubes (100 times stronger and 6 times lighter) surpass it.

High stiffness, high strength fibre. Usually used in conjunction with Carbon.
Meliorate Carbon
PBO-c The PBO, for poly (p-phenylene-2,6-benzobisoxazole), of Zylon® commercial brand (Toyobo - Japan), is a synthetic polymer used in race cars and aeronautics for its durability and high-elasticity.
It is used in PBO-c to complement the hard Carbon, creating a larger sweet spot and a softer stroke feeling.
RX Carbon RX Carbon consists of hard black and soft red fibers.
This mix speeds your game up, increases the energy efficiency and provides a natural touch.
SALC Super Arylate Carbon (Super ALC) is an artificial fiber material that provides higher bounce whilst maintaining good flexibility; a feature of Arylate Carbon.
Super PBO-c The same composite materials used in PBO-c, but woven in a much higher density. The Super PBO-c significantly expands the sweet spot for an even and explosive ball response.
SZLC Super ZL Carbon has more momentum than ZL Carbon (ZLC).
Super ZLC is almost twice as dense as ZLC fibers, which further increases the sweet spot and bounce of blades using Super ZLC. Super ZLC blades will in general have a medium-hard to hard touch and are quite fast, well suited for all-around offensive table tennis.
T5000 Tamca®5000 is a Carbon fibre that provides lightweight wood with high elasticity and stability.

A style of Carbon which is woven into a fabric or mesh. Typically stiff and fast, but not as hard as laminate type Carbon layers.
Tamca®5000 is strong and light; six times stronger and one fifth in weight compared with iron and steel.
Blades using Tamca®5000 are light and strong with high elasticity and enable high performance.
Telson CNF Carbon fibre.
Texalium™ An aluminium impregnated resin cloth layer that is formed into a solid ply. Hard, fast and quite stiff, but not as heavy as Carbon weaves.
TeXtreme® This unique patented TeXtreme® technology has never been used in table tennis. Depending on the orientation of the Carbon fibers on the racket wood, which allows this unique Carbon technology, at 45 or 90 degrees, the speed and trajectory of the ball are different, to best suit your playing style.
TeXtreme+® TeXtreme+® draws from the original TeXtreme® Spread Tow Carbon Technology and consists of an advanced, super thin Carbon fiber fabric that maximizes the strength-to-weight ratio.
This is a newly developed Swedish made and patented Carbon technology which makes the Carbon fabric as stable and strong near the edges as in the middle, without affecting the overall balance and weight of the blade.
Trimetrix (TMX) TMX has a new sense of balance with a special material that weaves X-Carbon, Axylium and Zephylium. The tensile strength of Axylium and the repulsion strength of Zephylium show a synergistic effect rather than rejecting each other's characteristics with X-Carbon.

X-Carbon is the basis of the new Xiom blade material, and is currently the most used in blade manufacturing, and is now used a lot by weaving it with other new special materials.
ULC Tamca® ULC : Uniaxial Light Carbon.

Carbon laid out with fibres aligned in a singular direction; typically north-south. Not as stiff, fast or hard as weave type Carbon layers. Considerably lighter (75-85%).
Tamca® ULC employs many Carbon fibers but only lengthwise. Usually for Carbon sheets, fibers are woven evenly in every direction. Therefore, Tamca® ULC is light but does not sacrifice speed.
ZAC ZAC could be the abbreviation of ZnO−Ag@Cellulose.
ZAC is a mix of Zylon®, Arylate and Carbon.
Zephylium The second-generation super fiber Zephylium is lightweight and has excellent tensile strength and elasticity, is characterized by a blend of softness and sharpness and a good ball grip.
Zephylium Carbon XIOM blade R&D team created a combination that shows the most luxurious performance in a blade by weaving together the Zephylium, which has a soft and sharp sense, with X-Carbon.

X-Carbon is the basis of the new Xiom blade material, and is currently the most used in blade manufacturing, and is now used a lot by weaving it with other new special materials.
Zexion® The highly elastic Zexion® Carbon fiber boosts the impact energy of the ball, thus increasing energy transfer upon ball contact.
ZLC ZL Carbon or Zylon® Carbon.
Zylon® fibres woven into a Carbon weave. Generally around 50% Zylon® 50% Carbon. Lightens the blade by 10% or 15% and retains the original speed. Stiffness is slightly lower and the feel is now soft.
Zylon® Carbon has the highest control/speed ratio of any Carbon fiber blade.
ZLF ZL Fiber or Zylon® Fiber.
Zylon® (Toyobo Japan) consist of rigid rod chain molecules of poly (p-phenylene-2, 6-benzobisoxazole.
In generic usage, the fiber is referred to as PBO.
Used in high strength applications. Known issue where the fibres slowly degrade after contact with any form of water, but is not an issue in table tennis applications.
Zylon® is a specially hardened, lightweight synthetic fibre.
Zylon® fibre is stronger, more flexible and lighter than Carbon fibre. The result is a low weight blade that can produce a maximum amount of topspin with maximum control.
Slightly lighter than other similar polymer fibres (Arylate, Aramid, Kevlar™) but slightly faster and stiffer. Typically gold coloured fibres.