The effect of surface nanostructuring on the behavior of a fiber-reinforced polyethylene composite

Abstract

Abstract. Polymer composites are manufactured using pristine and surface modified fibers. Modification with carbon nanofibers (CNF),referred to as surface nanostructuring,isperformed by CCVDof ethylene on a nickel catalyst.The resultingmicrofibers have the surface area at least 2 times as high as initially. Fiber-reinforced composites have beentested for mechanical properties.Compared to the set with pristine fibers, the composites containing the modified carbon fibers show an increase in the yield strength in the range of 20 % to 25 %. The reinforcement mechanism is also investigated, with emphasis laid on the fiber/matrix interface.

Precise Characterization of CNF-Coated Microfibers Using Transmission Electron Microscopy

“…The duration of each experiment was adjusted to provide the weight fraction of the formed CNF-coating to be in the range of 35-50 wt%. More detailed information regarding the preparation of hierarchical materials can be found in previously published works [12,21,30].…”

“…Therefore, the reinforcing effect is implicitly expressed in this case. Contrarily, the modification of the surface of microfibers with carbon nanostructures (e.g., carbon nanofibers or carbon nanotubes) makes it rough and strengthens its interaction with the matrix being reinforced [9][10][11][12][13]. As a result of such modification, a layer of carbon nanofibers (CNFs) is formed on the surface, which affects its adhesive behavior [14][15][16][17].…”