Unravelling the Influence of Surface Modification on the Ultimate Performance of Carbon Fiber/Epoxy Composites

The overall performance of polymer composites depends on not only the intrinsic properties of the polymer matrix and inorganic filler but also the quality of interfacial adhesion. Although many reported approaches have been focused on the chemical treatment for improving interfacial adhesion, the ex...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:ACS applied materials & interfaces 2022-10, Vol.14 (40), p.45775-45787
Main Authors: Demchuk, Zoriana, Zhu, Jiadeng, Li, Bingrui, Zhao, Xiao, Islam, Nurul Md, Bocharova, Vera, Yang, Guang, Zhou, Hongyu, Jiang, Yijie, Choi, Wonbong, Advincula, Rigoberto, Cao, Peng-Fei
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applications of Polymer, Composite, and Coating Materials
carbon fibers
INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
interfacial adhesion
mechanical property
polymer composites
surface modification
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The overall performance of polymer composites depends on not only the intrinsic properties of the polymer matrix and inorganic filler but also the quality of interfacial adhesion. Although many reported approaches have been focused on the chemical treatment for improving interfacial adhesion, the examination of ultimate mechanical performance and long-term properties of polymer composites has been rarely investigated. Herein, we report carbon fiber (CF)/epoxy composites with improved interfacial adhesion by covalent bonding between CFs and the epoxy matrix. This leads to the improved ultimate mechanical properties and enhanced thermal aging performance. Raman mapping demonstrates the formation of an interphase region derived from the covalent bonding between CFs and the epoxy matrix, which enables the uniform fiber distribution and eliminates phase separation during thermal cycling. The covalent attachment of the CF to the epoxy matrix suppresses its migration during temperature fluctuations, preserving the mechanical performance of resulting composites under the thermal aging process. Furthermore, the finite elemental analysis reveals the effectiveness of the chemical treatment of CFs in improving the interfacial strength and toughness of silane-treated CF/epoxy composites. The insight into the mechanical improvement of CF/epoxy composites suggests the high potential of surface modification of inorganic fillers toward polymer composites with tunable properties for different applications.
ISSN:1944-8244
1944-8252
DOI:10.1021/acsami.2c11281