Assembly-Dependent Interfacial Property of Carbon Nanotube Fibers with Epoxy and Its Enhancement via Generalized Surface Sizing

摘要

In building up composite structures using carbon nanotube (CNT) fibers, thefiber-to-matrix interfacial shear strength (IFSS) is one of the most importantissues. Originating from the assembly characteristics of CNT fiber, the IFSSstrongly depends on the fiber's twisting level and densification level.Furthermore, there are rich ways to modify the fiber surface and thus enhancethe IFSS, including the physical and chemical modification on fiber surface,the infiltration of matrix resin into CNT fiber, and the introduction of silanecoupling agent. A new feature differing from carbon fibers is that all thesetreatments either change the fiber's surface structure or form aseveral-hundreds-nm-thick interphase inside rather than around the fiber. These"generalized" treatments obviously extend the common concept of surface sizingand can be used for various forms of CNT assembly structures.