Simple-effective strategy for surface modification via annealing treatment polydopamine coating

Abstract

Inspired by the composition of adhesive proteins in mussels, polydopamine (PDA) has been widely utilized in interface modification fields to fabricate high performance composites with designable interfacial bonding strength. Nevertheless, not much attention has been taken to the changes of chemical structure and adhesion state of PDA on the material properties with varying temperature. Herein, we have done the corresponding work with carbon fiber as a case to understanding the chemical composition and adhesion state of PDA on its mechanical properties. The results shed light on that annealing treatment could promote the further polymerization of monomers and polymeric oligomers, resulting in the increase of CO content and the degree of cross-linking of PDA chains in the coating. The ILSS value (80.04 MPa) of annealed CF-PDA based composites were improved by 38.73 %. Furthermore, ILSS retention rate of annealed CF-PDA based composites after hydrothermal aging treatment reached 92.61 %. The simple strategy provides a fundamental understanding of the formation mechanism for interface improvement of PDA, which is believed to be beneficial for engineering applications.