High Interlaminar Shear Strength Enhancement of Carbon Fiber/Epoxy Composite through Fiber- and Matrix-Anchored Carbon Nanotube Networks

To improve the interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) of carbon fiber reinforced epoxy composite, networks of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) were grown on micron-sized carbon fibers and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) were dispersed into the epoxy matrix so that these two types of carbon nanotubes entangle at the carbon fiber (CF)/epoxy matrix interface. The MWNTs on the CF fiber (CF-MWNTs) were grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD), while the single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) were finely dispersed in the epoxy matrix precursor with the aid of a dispersing agent polyimide-<i>graft</i>-bisphenol A diglyceryl acrylate (PI-BDA) copolymer. Using vacuum assisted resin transfer molding, the SWNT-laden epoxy matrix precursor was forced into intimate contact with the “hairy” surface of the CF-MWNT fiber. The tube density and the average tube length of the MWNT layer on CF was controlled by the CVD growth time. The ILSS of the CF-MWNT/epoxy resin composite was examined using the short beam shear test. With addition of MWNTs onto the CF surface as well as SWNTs into the epoxy matrix, the ILSS of CF/epoxy resin composite was 47.59 ± 2.26 MPa, which represented a ∼103% increase compared with the composite made with pristine CF and pristine epoxy matrix (without any SWNT filler). FESEM established that the enhanced composite did not fail at the CF/epoxy matrix interface