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Surface oxidation of PAN-based ultrahigh modulus carbon fibers (UHMCFs) and its effect on the properties of UHMCF/EP composites

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Abstract

In this study, nitric acid oxidation with varied treatment temperature and time was conducted on the surfaces of polyacrylonitrile-based ultrahigh modulus carbon fibers. Scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and surface tension/dynamic contact angle instruments were used to investigate changes in surface topography and chemical functionality before and after surface treatment. Results showed that the nitric acid oxidation of ultrahigh modulus carbon fibers resulted in decreases in the values of the crystallite thickness Lc and graphitization degree. Meanwhile, increased treating temperature and time made the decreases more obviously. The surfaces of ultrahigh modulus carbon fibers became much more activity and functionality after surface oxidation, e.g., the total surface energy of oxidized samples at 80 °C for 1 h increased by 27.7% compared with untreated fibers. Effects of surface nitric acid oxidation on the mechanical properties of ultrahigh modulus carbon fibers and its reinforced epoxy composites were also researched. Significant decreases happened to the tensile modulus of fibers due to decreased Lc value after the nitric acid oxidation. However, surface treatment had little effect on the tensile strength even as the treating temperature and processing time increased. The highest interfacial shear strength of ultrahigh modulus carbon fibers/epoxy composites increased by 25.7% after the nitric acid oxidation. In the final, surface oxidative mechanism of ultrahigh modulus carbon fibers in the nitric acid oxidation was studied. Different trends of the tensile strength and tensile modulus of fibers in the nitric acid oxidation resulted from the typical skin–core structure.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the financial supports from Equipment Development Fund in The Field of Key Projects (no. 6140922010103), the Strategic Priority Research of Programme of Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. XDA17020405), Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province (no. LY18E080037), and the “Science and Technology Innovation 2025” Major Project of Ningbo of China (no. 2019B10091).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Institute of Technology, Shanghai, 201418, China

    Xinyu Wang & Cheng Zhang

  2. National Engineering Laboratory of Carbon Fiber Preparation Technology, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, 315201, Zhejiang, China

    Xin Qian, Yonggang Zhang, Xuefei Wang & Shulin Song

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  1. Xinyu Wang
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  2. Xin Qian
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Correspondence to Xin Qian or Cheng Zhang.

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Wang, X., Qian, X., Zhang, Y. et al. Surface oxidation of PAN-based ultrahigh modulus carbon fibers (UHMCFs) and its effect on the properties of UHMCF/EP composites. Carbon Lett. 31, 449–461 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42823-020-00173-7

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