CuO nanowires uniformly grown on carbon cloth to improve mechanical and tribological properties of polyimide composites

Abstract

The lack of robust interphases bonding between carbon fiber (CF) and polyimide (PI) polymer composites can be tackled by growing homogeneous copper oxide (CuO) nanowires 2 ∼ 3 μm on the surface of the CFC. The CuO nanowires can improve the interface compatibility with PI, and introduce a lubricating phase into PI/CuO@CFC composite to boost its mechanical and tribological performance. Compared to PI/CFC composites, PI/CuO@CFC composites were given a lower friction coefficient (45% lower), as well as a narrower wear width (47% lower), and the tensile strength increased by 43%. The enhancement mechanism is proposed via the analysis of the composite interface and worn surface. Therefore, it is an effective method to grow CuO nanowires for preparing high-performance PI/CFC composites, and has important application prospects in tribology field.