Poly(etherimide)s (PEIs) with different chemical structures were synthesized and characterized, which were employed to toughen epoxy resins (EP/PEI) and carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy composites (CF/EP/ PEI). Experimental results revealed that the introduction of the fluorinated groups and meta linkages could help to improve the melt processability of EP/PEI resins. The EP/ PEI resins showed obviously improved mechanical properties including tensile strength of 89.2 MPa, elongation at break of 4.7% and flexural strength of 144.2 MPa, and good thermal properties including glass transition temperature (T g ) of 211C and initial decomposition temperature (T d ) of 366 C. Moreover, CF/EP/PEI-1 and CF/EP/PEI-4 composites showed significantly improved toughness with impact toughness of 13.8 and 15.5 J/cm 2 , respectively.
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