The influence of coupling agent, fibre sizing and matrix degradation on the interfacial shear strength between carbon fibre and polypropylene

摘要

The interface strength between carbon fibre (CF) and polypropylene (PP) was characterised using the microbond test. The eect of removing the sizing from the fibres, as well as introducing a maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (MAPP) coupling agent were investigated. The polymer was found to degrade when prepared under atmospheric conditions, and therefore droplets were formed in a nitrogen purged oven for subsequent studies. The removal of the sizing from the fibre using pyrolysis and solvolysis techniques had little influence on the apparent interfacial shear strength (IFSS), suggesting that the IFSS for recovered fibres is similar to that of virgin fibres. Introducing a maleic anhydride coupling agent at 2wt% had the largest influence on the interface strength, increasing it by 320%.