Growing carbon nanotubes on continuous carbon fibers to produce composites with improved interfacial properties: A step towards commercial production and application

Abstract

A scalable manufacturing process has been developed to grow carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in situ on the surface of continuous carbon fibers (CFs) and achieve their uniform distribution. The successful growth of CNTs on the fiber surfaces was proved by studying the various stages in the continuous growth process. Electrochemical anodization achieved significant modification of CFs and promoted effective coating of catalyst precursors. The average tensile strength of the CNTs/CF reinforcement was improved when the concentration of catalyst precursor was 0.05 mol/L, indicating that the damage caused by catalyst reduction was repaired in chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. The simple measurement of growth kinetics explained the rate at different stages of CNT growth. The CNT layer improved the wettability between CFs and epoxy, and effectively inhibited expansion of interfacial cracks so that the interfacial shear strength (IFSS) of composite material reached 91.17 MPa with a significant increase of 95.43%. Significantly, this process can realize the industrialization of the preparation of composite reinforcement.