Role of Nano-YbF3-Treated Carbon Fabric on Improving Abrasive Wear Performance of Polyetherimide Composites

Abstract

A method for surface treatment of carbon fabric with nano-particles of rare earth salt (ytterbium fluoride-YbF 3 ) was tried first time in the authors' laboratory to enhance the fiber-matrix interface, and has been reported here. In this article authors have reported on the performance evaluation of composites developed from the four fabrics treated with various doses viz. 0, 0.1, 0.3, and 0.5 wt% of YbF 3 . The abrasive wear performance of these composites was evaluated by abrading the composites against silicon carbide abrasive paper under varying loads. The treated fabric composites exhibited lower coefficient of friction and higher wear resistance as compared with untreated fabric composite. A linear correlation between ILSS (interlaminar shear strength) and wear resistance was observed. Both were the highest for 0.3% dosing of fabric. Since it was also desirable to compare the efficiency of this novel method of treatment of carbon fibers with conventional one, a few results of composites with plasma-treated carbon fabric were compared with the nano-particle-treated fabric composites. It was concluded that the latest method improved the abrasive wear resistance of composites almost two times more than the plasma-treated composites. Fiber-matrix interface was strengthened because of the treatment as observed from SEM studies, ILSS, and matrix pick-up studies. Increased roughness of fiber surface was observed in topographical analysis by SEM. Effect of treatment on fiber was also observed by adhesion test and fiber tow tension test. SEM studies of worn surfaces were performed to understand wear mechanisms.

Influence of fiber–matrix interface on abrasive wear performance of polymer composites

“…Maximum ILSS and FS were shown by C 90 composite, which indicates that 90 min treatment was an optimum dose for this type of treatment and most effective in improving adhesion between fiber and matrix. This enhanced adhesion [12][13][14][15] led to an improvement in all mechanical properties of the composites such as strength (tensile, flexural and ILSS) and modulus (tensile and flexural). The enhancement was maximum in ILSS and minimum for TS and toughness.…”

“…FTIR-ATR spectroscopic analysis of CF showed that treatments significantly influenced the chemical structure of its surface and led to an inclusion of oxidative polar functional groups. [12][13][14][15] Figure 4 shows FTIR-ATR of untreated and treated (only with optimized doses) CF. Significant variations in % absorbance was observed in the range of 1000-2000 cm À1 wave-number, which indicates presence of functional groups on a fiber's surface.…”

Waterborne epoxy sizing agent with hyperbranched structure to improve the interface performance of carbon fiber

“…At present, the common surface modification methods of CF include wet chemical modification (polymer sizing agent, chemical grafting, and electrochemical modification with acid), [9][10][11][12][13] dry modification (ion treatment, high energy irradiation, and heat treatment), [14][15][16] and multi-scale modification (electrodeposition, chemical vapor deposition). [17][18][19][20] Sizing agent is used to coat CF surface, which can solve the problems of brittle fracture and fluffy tow of CF in the production process. [21,22] Additionally, sizing agent can provide enough surface finish for CF, improve surface wettability, increase surface reactive groups, and enhance the interface binding ability between CF and matrix resin.…”

Remarkable enhancement of mechanical and tribological properties of polyamide 46/polyphenylene oxide alloy by polyurethane-coated carbon fiber

“…The performance of CFRPs depends not only on the material components but also on the interfacial interaction between the CF and the polymer. Accordingly, various methods have been employed to treat CF, 16 such as sizing, [17][18][19][20] acid oxidation, [21][22][23] plasma treatment, 24,25 and rare earth treatment 26 . Among them, the sizing treatment is the most commonly used method which not only protects CF from fragmenting and fuzzing during processing but also enhances the interfacial interaction between the CF and the polymer matrix via various functional groups.…”