Self-assembly of carbon nanomaterials onto carbon fiber to improve the interfacial properties of epoxy composites

The interfacial property of carbon fiber (CF) reinforced composites is crucial to facilitate the application of high-strength composites. Utilizing the electrostatic and hydrogen bond properties of diazo resin, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene oxide (GO) could be quickly grafted onto the surface of the CF via the layer-by-layer self-assembly technique. The results showed that CNTs and GO were uniformly coated onto the CF surface, and the chemical activity and roughness of the modified CF surface were improved significantly. The modified CF surface can significantly augment the interaction between the epoxy resin and the fiber. Remarkably, due to the good interfacial property, the impact performance of the composites reinforced with the nanomaterial-modified CF was improved obviously. In addition, the interface properties of the composites are studied in depth. This method is expected to achieve rapid surface modification of carbon fiber.