This paper reports the development of a novel photocurable carbon fiber/polyether-polythioether (TF CFEC) composite and the comparison of its mechanical performance with that of a conventional thermally cured carbon fiber-epoxi composite (CTC CFEC). Unidirectional carbon fiber (CF) was used as the reinforcement agent in both composites. In the case of the TF CFEC, the CF employed was surface-functionalized with thiol groups to promote chemical bonding to the polyether-polythioether matrix derived from the epoxy/thiol-ene system. This was achieved by means of a transesterification reaction of (3-mercaptopropyl) trimethoxysilane (MPTS) with the hydroxyl groups produced on the surface of the CF after an oxidative plasma treatment. Mechanical testing revealed that although TF CFEC displayed slightly lower mechanical properties than CTC CFEC, it exhibited 50% higher fracture toughness. This difference in behavior was explained by the difference in the chemical nature of both polymeric matrices, where a highly crosslinked poly(hydroxyl-amine) is produced in the case of CTC CFEC , while a polyether-polythioether matrix with inherent toughness due to the flexibility of polythioethers, is obtained during the photo-thermal treatment to obtain TF CFEC. Considering that TF CFEC was cured in only 1h at 40 mW/cm² of UV intensity and 85°C, and the CTC CFEC was cured at room temperature for 4h, followed by heating at 100°C for 4h, there is considerable energy savings in the production of the photocurable composite. The result is a cost-effective process that could have potential applications in the automotive and aerospace industries.

本文报道了新型光固化碳纤维/聚醚-聚硫醚（TF CFEC）复合材料的开发以及与常规热固化碳纤维-环氧复合材料（CTC CFEC）的机械性能的比较。在两种复合材料中，单向碳纤维（CF）均用作增强剂。在TF CFEC的情况下，所用的CF已通过硫醇基团进行表面官能化，以促进化学键合至衍生自环氧/硫醇-烯系统的聚醚-聚硫醚基质。这是通过（3-巯基丙基）三甲氧基硅烷（MPTS）与氧化等离子体处理后在CF表面上产生的羟基的酯交换反应来实现的。机械测试表明，尽管TF CFEC的机械性能略低于CTC CFEC，它的断裂韧性提高了50％。两种聚合物基质的化学性质不同可以解释这种行为差异，其中在CTC CFEC的情况下会产生高度交联的聚（羟基胺），而聚醚-聚硫醚基质由于具有柔韧性而具有固有的韧性在光热处理过程中获得多硫醚化合物，以获得TF CFEC。考虑到TF CFEC在1个小时内以40 mW / cm的速度固化 在光热处理期间获得TF CFEC。考虑到TF CFEC在1个小时内以40 mW / cm的速度固化 在光热处理期间获得TF CFEC。考虑到TF CFEC在1个小时内以40 mW / cm的速度固化² UV强度的和85°C，以及CTC CFEC在室温下4小时固化，随后在100℃下加热4小时，有在制造光固化性复合材料的相当大的能量节约。结果是具有成本效益的过程，该过程可能在汽车和航空航天工业中具有潜在的应用。