Growth of carbon black onto continuous carbon fiber to produce composites with improved mechanical and interfacial properties: A step closer to industrial production

Abstract Performance of carbon fiber (CF) reinforced composites mainly depends on the tensile strength and interfacial bonding strength between fiber and the matrix. However, most of the surface modification technologies for CF may result in decrease in its tensile strength in both laboratory scale and commercial production. Herein, carbon black (CB) was decorated onto the surface of CF by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. SEM, TEM and AFM characterizations showed that CB significantly changed the morphology of CF. The results of dynamic contact angle text (DCAT) demonstrated that the surface energy of CF was increased due to the loading of CB. Upon the decoration by CB, IFSS, ILSS and impact strength of CF/epoxy composites were enhanced, corresponding to 46.84%,29.11% and 48.24%, respectively, and the reinforcing and toughening mechanisms have also been discussed. Besides, the results of tensile tests for single fiber showed that the tensile strength (TS) of CB-decorated CF was higher compared with that of original CF. Meanwhile, this modification method for CF could serve as a basis for realizing the industrialization online production.