Abstract
The modification of carbon fibers for improving adhesion between fibers and an epoxy resin in composite materials has become the focus of attention. In this work the carbon fiber coating process has been devised in a way preventing the stiffening and clumping of fibers. To improve interactions between coated fibers and a resin in composites, four types of silica coatings with different organic functional groups (3-aminopropyl–coating 1, 3-mercaptopropyl–coating 2, 2-(3,4-epoxycyclohexyl) ethyl–coating 3, methyl–coating 4) were obtained. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were used to distinguish the changes of a carbon fibers surface after coating deposition. The thickness of the obtained coatings, including the diversity of thickness, was determined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The increase in surface free energy (SFE) of modified fibers, including the distinction between the polar and dispersive parts, was examined by wettability measurements using a tensometric test. The developed coating preparation process allowed to cover fibers separately with nanoscale silica layers, which changed their morphology. The introduction of organic functional groups resulted in surface free energy changes, especially an increase in specific polar surface energy components.
Highlights
Nowadays the weight of construction materials plays a crucial role in industry, especially in automotive and aerospace industry, where a decrease in mass significantly reduces the cost of use.Commonly-used construction materials, due to their good mechanical properties and low weight, are carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP)
The defects of fiber matrix adhesion significantly affect the tensile and flexural strength of a composite material, promote crack growth leading to decreased toughness, fatigue strength, and impact resistance, they facilitate the infiltration of liquids from the environment, which leads to corrosion
The authors developed the parameters of the sol synthesis and coating application process, which surface morphology, topography, and wettability after the modification were analyzed in this study
Summary
Nowadays the weight of construction materials plays a crucial role in industry, especially in automotive and aerospace industry, where a decrease in mass significantly reduces the cost of use. Commonly-used construction materials, due to their good mechanical properties and low weight, are carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP). Despite many advantages of such materials, they are characterized by structure defects, partly caused by the insufficient adhesion of reinforcing fibers to a matrix [1,2,3]. The defects of fiber matrix adhesion significantly affect the tensile and flexural strength of a composite material, promote crack growth leading to decreased toughness, fatigue strength, and impact resistance, they facilitate the infiltration of liquids from the environment, which leads to corrosion. Adhesion is provided by physical and chemical interactions between two phases [4]
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