The Effect of Low Power Nitrogen Plasma Treatment of Carbon Fibres on the Interfacial Shear Strength of Carbon Fibre/Epoxy Composites

Type II (high strength) carbon fibres have been given a low power nitrogen plasma treatment. It is shown that this plasma treatment has no effect on the fibre diameter, no detrimental effect on fibre strength and can significantly improve fibre/resin adhesion. It is proposed that this improvement is due to chemical interaction via amine/epoxy bonding at the edge sites together with the interaction of the epoxy with activated basal planes present on the fibre surface. This improvement is only achieved if the fibres are immersed in resin before being exposed to air. Exposing the treated fibres to air drastically reduces fibre/adhesion due to the adsorption of moisture from the environment. Heating these latter fibres in a vacuum at 130°C for one hour allows some recovery of the interfacial strength. It is also demonstrated that the interfacial shear strength falls dramatically when the nitrogen-containing functional groups are completely removed from the fibre surface.