Jay Chou Teams Up with UTree! PEEK May Surge Again

On July 30th, Superstar Legend, a Jay Chou concept stock, announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Xingchuang Arts and Entertainment Co., Ltd., has entered into a cooperation agreement with Hangzhou Yushu Technology. The Group and Yushu Technology will become strategic partners globally and will initially collaborate in the development and commercialization of quadruped robotic dogs/robots with companionship functions and social attributes, jointly creating consumer-grade robotic products with strong IP characteristics.

Three months ago, Yushi Technology's humanoid robot G1 attracted attention as the world's first robot to complete a side flip. At the same time, polyether ether ketone (PEEK) material has gained prominence for its key applications in robot manufacturing.

PEEK material was first developed by the British Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI). For a long period after its inception, it was used as an important strategic defense military material and was subject to strict embargoes and restrictions. Compared to ordinary materials, PEEK exhibits superior heat resistance; even at 260°C, it can be used for 5000 hours with its strength nearly unchanged from its initial state. It also boasts excellent thermal stability with a melting point of 341°C. Additionally, PEEK possesses outstanding mechanical properties and toughness, exceptional chemical resistance, as well as excellent wear resistance and sliding performance.

As a result, PEEK has become a revolutionary material for the core motion components and precision structures of robots. Additionally, its composite with carbon fiber (CF/PEEK) offers advantages such as lightweight, wear resistance with self-lubrication, and a combination of rigidity and flexibility, making it suitable for important joints and bearings in robot bodies.

I. Joints and Transmission System

PEEK gears are used in joint limbs, achieving lightweight through injection molding, reducing weight by 40% compared to metal, while maintaining high wear resistance and self-lubrication.

2. Robotic Arm and Motion Structure

The application of CF/PEEK composite structures in robotic arm joints combines the high modulus of carbon fiber with the toughness of PEEK, achieving a balance of rigidity and flexibility. For example, the robotic arm of Tesla Optimus-Gen2 uses such materials, resulting in an overall weight reduction of 10 kg.

3. Framework and Support Structure

The tensile strength of CF/PEEK fabric (with a carbon fiber volume content of 70%) is comparable to that of titanium alloy, but its density is only 36% of titanium alloy, making it suitable for load-bearing parts of the fuselage.

4. Sensors and Interactive Systems

5. Power and Energy Systems

Global PEEK production capacity is relatively concentrated, with manufacturers exhibiting a competitive pattern of "one leading player and several strong contenders."

Due to the technical blockade on PEEK materials when they first emerged, China started the technical research and development of PEEK materials relatively late. During the "Ninth Five-Year Plan" period, Changchun Jilin University Advanced Materials Co. completed the industrial pilot production. After nearly 20 years of efforts, the Special Engineering Plastics Research Center at Jilin University developed a PEEK resin synthesis route with independent intellectual property rights. In 2000, Jilin University Advanced Materials Co., Ltd. was established, breaking the monopoly of Victrex for the first time. By the end of 2002, the company completed the construction of the first phase of a PEEK facility with a capacity of 300 tons per year, and the following year expanded production to 500 tons per year.

In 2014, Zhongyan Co., Ltd. reached an annual production capacity of 1,000 tons of PEEK, making it one of the only four companies worldwide, alongside Victrex, Solvay, and Evonik, with a synthesis capacity of over a thousand tons. On July 19, 2024, Zhongyan Co., Ltd. invested 30 million yuan to establish a wholly-owned subsidiary, Zhongyan Composite (Shanghai) Technology Development Co., Ltd., including a deep collaboration with Donghua University. The two main research directions are the "Preparation of Suspended PEEK Prepreg Tape" and the "Development of PEEK Fibers and Fabrics."

In addition, there are many other PEEK manufacturers in China, such as Watton, Shandong Junhao, Pengfulong, Jida Special Plastics, Haoran Special Plastics, and others.

It is worth mentioning that CF/PEEK composites can solve the brittleness problem of plastics. PEEK has better tensile strength and tensile modulus compared to other special engineering plastics/engineering plastics, but it is inherently brittle and prone to cracking under external impact. Therefore, when PEEK is combined with carbon fiber, the high strength and high modulus characteristics of carbon fiber impart CF/PEEK composites with higher strength, modulus, and deformation resistance, thus addressing the brittleness issue of PEEK.

In the past two years, the concept stocks of PEEK materials have been very popular in the financial market, but the actual market performance of this special engineering plastic has been disappointing. According to industry insiders, in 2023, the sales volume of global PEEK resin synthesis companies was only 6,650 tons, with a compound annual growth rate of only 2.3%.

The primary reason for the polarization lies in the excellent performance of PEEK materials and their irreplaceability in the medical and lightweight/intelligent fields. However, at the same time, this material also faces challenges such as high costs, lengthy validation cycles, and an incomplete industrial chain from material development to end-use applications.

From a cost perspective, assuming simply that the composite cost is 1-2 times the procurement cost of PEEK plus carbon fiber, the estimated cost of CF/PEEK composite materials for a single humanoid robot currently accounts for approximately 1.48-2.21% of the robot's total cost. The CF/PEEK fabric with a carbon fiber volume content of 70% has tensile strength and tensile modulus comparable to aluminum alloy and titanium alloy, while its density is only 58% that of aluminum alloy and 36% that of titanium alloy. However, its price is about twice that of titanium products.

From a technical perspective, the preparation technology for CF/PEEK prepregs in China is still at the laboratory stage due to the complexity of the composite process. High-end carbon fibers (such as T1100 grade) rely on Japan's Toray. On February 20, Guangwei Composite stated on the investor platform that the company has been continuously conducting research and development of thermoplastic prepregs including PEEK in recent years. Currently, they have developed thermoplastic carbon fiber composite products such as PEEK prepreg yarn and prepreg tapes, and are in the process of developing and manufacturing related pilot production lines. Additionally, Yongzhuo Holdings’ subsidiary Yongcheng New Materials has achieved a new breakthrough by successfully realizing the industrialized mass production of YC11S (T1100 grade) ultra-high strength carbon fiber at the kiloton scale.

From the perspective of the industrial chain, the main raw material for PEEK is difluorobenzophenone (DFBP), and the global production capacity is concentrated among domestic companies, including Xinhan New Material, Zhongxin Fluorine Material, and Xingfu New Material. Among them, Zhongxin Fluorine Material's DFBP products have been certified for quality by multiple domestic and international customers and have already secured batch orders from some of these customers. However, producing 1 ton of PEEK requires consuming 0.7-0.8 tons of fluoroketone monomer. With the development of the global humanoid robot industry, the demand for fluoroketone is expected to increase.

In terms of market size, the global PEEK market is expected to be approximately 6.1 billion yuan in 2024 and is projected to reach 8.54 billion yuan by 2027, with a CAGR of 11.38%. According to institutional forecasts, the demand for PEEK products in China is expected to continue growing at a compound annual growth rate of 16.82% from 2022 to 2027, reaching an estimated 5,079 tons by 2027.

From the perspective of global downstream application fields, PEEK materials are currently widely used in automotive, aerospace, medical, electronics, and other sectors. With the deepening understanding of PEEK properties in the market, as well as continuous improvements in PEEK resin production capacity and processing technology, its consumption will gradually increase, and its application fields will continue to expand.

In the field of robotics, the requirements for lightweight materials, high strength, and high precision align well with the properties of PEEK material. Domestic manufacturers have already applied PEEK materials to components such as joints, bearings, and gears of humanoid robots, forming a supporting production chain. In January 2025, Elon Musk stated that if everything goes smoothly, Tesla is expected to produce 500,000 robots by 2027. According to relevant data estimates, every 100,000 robots designed with composite materials require 195 tons of PEEK material. With the mass production of humanoid robots (the market size is expected to reach $12 billion by 2030), the future application of PEEK will further develop towards precision and multi-functional integration, and the demand for PEEK materials will also increase significantly.