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. 2021 Oct 9;13(20):3457.
doi: 10.3390/polym13203457.

The Impact of Carbon Nanofibres on the Interfacial Properties of CFRPs Produced with Sized Carbon Fibres

Zhenxue Zhang  1 , Xiaoying Li  1 , Simon Jestin  2 , Stefania Termine  3 , Aikaterini-Flora Trompeta  3 , Andreia Araújo  4   5 , Raquel M Santos  4 , Costas Charitidis  3 , Hanshan Dong  1
Affiliations

The Impact of Carbon Nanofibres on the Interfacial Properties of CFRPs Produced with Sized Carbon Fibres

Zhenxue Zhang et al. Polymers (Basel). .

Abstract

In this work, different amounts of CNFs were added into a complex formulation to coat the CFs surfaces via sizing in order to enhance the bonding between the fibre and the resin in the CF-reinforced polymer composites. The sized CFs bundles were characterised by SEM and Raman. The nanomechanical properties of the composite materials produced were assessed by the nanoindentation test. The interfacial properties of the fibre and resin were evaluated by a push-out method developed on nanoindentation. The average interfacial shear strength of the fibre/matrix interface could be calculated by the critical load, sheet thickness and fibre diameter. The contact angle measurements and resin spreadability were performed prior to nanoindentation to investigate the wetting properties of the fibre. After the push-out tests, the characterisation via optical microscopy/SEM was carried out to ratify the results. It was found the CFs sizing with CNFs (1 to 10 wt%) could generally increase the interfacial shear strength but it was more cost-effective with a small amount of evenly distributed CNFs on CFs.

Keywords: CNF; carbon fibre-reinforced composite; contact angle; nanoindentation; push-out.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(a) T700 CFs, (b) CNFs and (c) the sizing process.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Contact angle measurement on CF monofilaments.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Composite specimen preparation (a) pieces cut from mounted samples, (b) specimens mounted on the sample holder, (c) the round indentations and the groove, (d) optical microscopy image of the specimen, and (e) schematic of push-out test.
Figure 4
Figure 4
T700 CFs with CNFs in sizing agent (a,b) 1% CNFs, (c,d) 5% CNFs (e,f) 10% CNFs.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Surface chemistry analyses by Raman on CFs sized with different amount of CNFs.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Spreadabillity testing on CNF-based sized CF bundles.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Contact angle measurements of CNF sized fibres with different wt.%: (a) T700 (reference), (b) 1 wt.% CNF-U1F1, (c) 5 wt.% CNF-U5F1 and (d) 10 wt.% CNF-U10F1.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Nano-hardness (H) and reduced elastic modulus (Er) of sized CFs and resin in the composite measured under a load of 5 mN (T700).
Figure 9
Figure 9
The carbon fibres in a 26 µm (T26) thick T700-31E specimen (a) before and (b) after push-out test, (c) load vs. displacement curves, and (d) the critical load and the relevant IFSS.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Sample U10F1: (a) the area for push-out test with different thicknesses (b) the critical load and the relevant IFSS with different thicknesses.
Figure 11
Figure 11
Comparison of the interfacial shear strength with different specimen thickness of the sized carbon fibres in CFRP.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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