Among emerging new materials, glassy carbon makes waves with its remarkable resilience and versatility. Yet, as this non-graphitised carbon material gains momentum, its production faces challenges such as size limitations, high costs, and product hardness. In response to these challenges, Discarbonery Technology Limited, a PolyU startup, has developed an innovative solution to cost-effectively create large, customisable shapes of glassy carbon products. It has also developed a heat treatment process that finely adjusts the material’s physical properties, broadening applications of glassy carbon and prolonging its service life.

Yang Yi, a PhD student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and founder of Discarbonery Technology Limited, highlights that glassy carbon is suitable for various applications, including moulding and semiconductor manufacturing. It can be applied in metallurgy, aerospace, and electrochemistry. Its unique properties include high hardness, high-pressure resistance, wear resistance, high-temperature resistance, and more.

Yang began researching glassy carbon four years ago at PolyU. After years of effort, he developed the award-winning technology, “Thick Glassy Carbon Manufacturing and Physical Property Adjustment through Heat Treatment”, significantly improving yield compared to traditional methods while using cheaper equipment, thus sharply cutting production costs. The process involves pouring liquid phenolic resin into a metal mould, solidifying it in a drying oven, and heating it to undergo pyrolysis. The shrunken solid is the glassy carbon product. The products are also thicker than those currently available.

Yang’s technology has won several international awards, including a bronze medal at the International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva in 2021, a second prize at the Hong Kong University Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition in 2023, and a gold medal at the Silicon Valley International Invention Festival in 2024.

Discarbonery Technology Limited was founded in 2023 and is supported by several funds, including the PolyU Micro Fund. Currently, the startup is fine-tuning production parameters to optimise cost-effectiveness.