Effect of polyetherimide nanoparticle coating on the interfacial shear strength between carbon fiber and thermoplastic resins

Abstract

A polyetherimide (PEI) nanoparticle coating was prepared on carbon fiber (CF) surface by an evaporation induced surface modification, which was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer. The PEI nanoparticles were not perfectly spherical, but were pie shaped as observed by field emission scanning electron microscopy. Thus, the PEI nanoparticles were adsorbed on the CF surface instead of accumulating on the CF surface. To understand the effect of PEI nanoparticles on the interfacial shear strength between CF and thermoplastic resins, CF with a PEI nanoparticle coating was heated to melt the PEI nanoparticles. In addition to the desized CF, these three samples were used as reinforcements and some widely used engineering thermoplastic resins. The single filament fragmentation test was employed to assess the interfacial shear strength with an improved sample preparation process. The results show that the introduction of PEI coating increased the interfacial shear strength between CF and the thermoplastic resins mentioned above, especially the surface of the PEI coating used a nanoparticle morphology. In combination with the hot-bonding experiments, the compatibility of thermoplastic resins and PEI coating was shown to influence interfacial shear strength, but it was not the main factor.