Carbon nanotube/carbon fiber hybrid multiscale composites

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes were grown directly on carbon fibers using chemical vapor deposition. When embedded in a polymer matrix, the change in length scale of carbon nanotubes relative to carbon fibers results in a multiscale composite, where individual carbon fibers are surrounded by a sheath of nanocomposite reinforcement. Single-fiber composites were fabricated to examine the influence of local nanotube reinforcement on load transfer at the fiber/matrix interface. Results of the single-fiber composite tests indicate that the nanocomposite reinforcement improves interfacial load transfer. Selective reinforcement by nanotubes at the fiber/matrix interface likely results in local stiffening of the polymer matrix near the fiber/matrix interface, thus, improving load transfer.

Morphology study of carbon nanospecies grown on carbon fibers by thermal CVD technique

“…In order to achieve benefits of CNTs superior properties their selective and aligned growth is highly desirable for several applications [17,18]. Incorporation of CNTs grown on carbon fibers considerably changed fiber/matrix interface characteristics when used in making multiscale composites resulting in a significant increase in the mechanical properties [19][20][21][22]. Therefore, synthesis of nanostructure with controlled morphology is very crucial for obtaining the desired nanostructure for a particular device application.…”

Carbon nanotube grafted silica fibres: Characterising the interface at the single fibre level

“…Downs and Baker [16] first reported an increase of around 4.75 times (in the best case) of the IFSS of the composites with carbon nanofibre-grafted carbon fibres. An improvement of interfacial load transfer was subsequently reported by grafting CNTs on carbon fibres [17]. More recently, a 60% improvement of IFSS was observed for the CNT-grafted carbon fibres/epoxy composites [18].…”

“…CVD is also the most common method for grafting CNTs onto fibre surfaces [17][18][19][20][21][22]. In the present study, a simple injection chemical vapour deposition (ICVD) method was used to grow CNTs on silica fibres; CNT-grafting with different lengths was produced by varying the growth time.…”

Development of sizing-free multi-functional carbon fibre nanocomposites

“…Thostenson et al [34] attributed the enhancement to local stiffening of the polymer matrix near the interface, while Guo et al [35] observed fibre surface structure changes and polarity matching with the polymer matrix. Zhang et al [36] suggested the origin of the improvements is related to improvements in the chemical bonding, van der Waals binding and mechanical interlocking.…”