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Chemical grafting of nano-TiO2 onto carbon fiber via thiol–ene click chemistry and its effect on the interfacial and mechanical properties of carbon fiber/epoxy composites

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Abstract

The interface in carbon fiber (CF)-reinforced polymer composites plays an important role in determining the mechanical properties of composites. In order to improve the interfacial adhesion between the carbon fiber and resin matrix, we presented a facile and rapid method for grafting nano-sized titanium dioxide (nano-TiO2) onto the CF surface by means of thiol–ene click chemistry under UV irradiation. Experimental results demonstrate that the chemical bonds are formed between the CF and nano-TiO2. The introduction of nano-TiO2 significantly enhances the surface energy of fiber and increases the wettability and mechanical interlocking between fiber and resin, resulting in a significant increase in the interfacial properties of composites. Compared to the raw CF/epoxy composites, the composites reinforced by the CF grafted with nano-TiO2 show an improvement of 78% in the interfacial shear strength. Moreover, the results of the mechanical properties tests reveal that the flexural strength and tensile strength of composites increase by 32.3 and 39.6% after grafting with nano-TiO2.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51463017), Science Foundation of Aeronautics of China (No. 2016ZF56022) and Natural Science Foundation of Jiangxi Province (20171BAB206019 and 20171BAB216002).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanchang Hangkong University, Nanchang, 330063, China

    Lei Xiong, Feng Zhan, Hongbo Liang, Liang Chen & Daosong Lan

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  1. Lei Xiong
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  2. Feng Zhan
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  3. Hongbo Liang
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  4. Liang Chen
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  5. Daosong Lan
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Correspondence to Lei Xiong.

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Xiong, L., Zhan, F., Liang, H. et al. Chemical grafting of nano-TiO2 onto carbon fiber via thiol–ene click chemistry and its effect on the interfacial and mechanical properties of carbon fiber/epoxy composites. J Mater Sci 53, 2594–2603 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-017-1739-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-017-1739-5

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