Graphene in floorball blades

Purpose and goal

Renew Group Sweden AB has been producing and distributing floorball products for almost 20 years and there has always been an issue to reach an optimal balance for the blades in terms of stiffness and weight. By implementing graphene into the material in the process of producing blades the target was to solve this problem. Together with the companies Polykemi AB, Götene Plast AB and Chalmers Industriteknik, three test laborations have been made with both standard and surface modified graphene to create a compound to make the blade stiffer, but still keep its weight.

Expected results and effects

Unfortunately the results didn´t reach the expectations. The E-module and the abrasion resistance became slightly better in some tests results, but the disparity was fractional. In the bending test the result was similar. The blades including graphene were slightly more stiff than without graphene, but the difference is too small to give an impact to the players. Now the blades are tested in play and we will see in the near future if we get some positive reactions from the players.

Planned approach and implementation

The setup for the project was to find different types of graphene materials to be implemented into the PE and PP blades production. Several trial attempts were made at Polykemi AB on so-called test bars to measure the result. After three trial attempts the project group decided to produce trial blades at Götene Plast. The trial blades have been evaluated from bending test, shooting test and playing test.