Mechanical and Thermophysical Properties of Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Polyethersulfone

Abstract

In this study, the mechanical and thermophysical properties of carbon fiber-reinforced polyethersulfone are investigated. To enhance the interfacial interaction between carbon fibers and the polymer matrix, the surface modification of carbon fibers by thermal oxidation is conducted. By means of AFM and X-ray spectroscopy, it is determined that surface modification changes the morphology and chemical composition of carbon fibers. It is shown that surface modification dramatically increases the mechanical properties of the composites. Thus, flexural strength and the E-modulus of the composites reinforced with modified fibers reached approximately 962 MPa and 60 GPa, respectively, compared with approximately 600 MPa and 50 GPa for the composites reinforced with the initial ones. The heat deflection temperatures of the composites reinforced with the initial and modified fibers were measured. It is shown that composites reinforced with modified fibers lose their stability at temperatures of about 211 °C, which correlates with the glass transition temperature of the PES matrix. The thermal conductivity of the composites with different fiber content is investigated in two directions: in-plane and transverse to layers of carbon fibers. The obtained composites had a relatively high realization of the thermal conductive properties of carbon fibers, up to 55–60%.

Transformer bridge-based metrological unit for scanning thermal microscopy with resistive nanoprobes

“…Therefore, the height difference between soft (resin) and hard (fibres) materials reaches 50 nm. The carbon fibre exhibited a thermal conductivity of approximately 20 W mK −1 , whereas the thermal conductivity of the epoxy resin reached a maximum of 1 W mK −1 [28,29]. The topography and thermal properties of the selected sample should converge because it was vertically extruded.…”

Development and Perspectives of Thermal Conductive Polymer Composites

“…Therefore, improving the interface compatibility between the two is a common means to reduce phonon scattering. In recent decades, researchers have used different methods to treat the surface of fillers to improve the interfacial adhesion between fillers and polymer matrix [ 13 , 104 , 105 , 106 , 107 , 108 , 109 , 110 , 111 , 112 , 113 ]. Commonly used modifiers include surfactants, coupling agents, functional polymers, and inorganic coatings [ 81 ].…”

The effect of hybrid thermal fillers on thermal conductivity of carbon fiber reinforced polybutylene terephthalate composites

“…[7][8][9][10] It is known that CF-reinforced polymer composites are preferred for their good mechanical properties and thermal conductivity. CF-reinforced polymer composites can be used in applications such as electromagnetic shielding materials, [11][12][13] antifriction materials, [13][14][15] ballistic protection materials, 13,16,17 thermally conductive materials for heat exchangers, the thermal management of compact electronic units, 13,18,19 sensors for structural health monitoring, 13,20,21 highstrength self-healing materials 13,[22][23][24] etc. CF polymer-matrix structural composites exhibit relatively high in-plane thermal conductivity but low through-plane conductivity.…”