Effects of Increase in Ratio of Phenolic Hydroxyl Function on Carbon Fiber Surfaces by Anodic Oxidation on Mechanical Interfacial Bonding of Carbon Fibers-reinforced Epoxy Matrix Composites

Abstract

We studied the effects of anodic oxidation treatments of carbon fibers on interfacial adhesion of the carbon fibers-reinforced epoxy matrix composites with various current densities. The surface of treated carbon fibers was characterized by atomic force microscope (AFM), field emission-scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) of the composites was determined by a short beam shear test. This result showed that both the roughness and oxygen group of the carbon fibers surface increased in proportion to the current density. After anodic-oxidation-treated, the ILSS also increased as a function of the current density. In addition, the proportional relationship between ILSS and phenolic hydroxyl group was confirmed. The ILSS of the CF-2.0 sample increased by 4% compared to that of the CF-AS sample, because the anodic oxidation treatment increased the oxygen group and roughness on the carbon fibers surface, which leading to the improvement of the interfacial adhesion of the carbon fibers-reinforced epoxy matrix composites. Among these, the phenolic hydroxyl group which has the proportional relationship with ILSS is found to be the most important factor for improving the interfacial adhesion of the carbon fibers-reinforced epoxy matrix composites.