Some aspects of interface adhesion of electrolytically oxidized carbon fibres in an epoxy-resin matrix

A comprehensive investigation of the adhesion at the interface of a carbon fibre in an epoxy resin was made. The fibre surfaces were modified, to increase their adhesion to resin, by an electrolytic surface treatment which was applied at various current densities. Subsequent changes in the fibre properties relating to possible mechanical, physical and chemical contributions to adhesion were monitored. Tensile tests on single fibres indicated that the treatment altered the strengths of the fibres, which were found to have their highest values and to be least variable at an optimum adhesion level. A method was developed to estimate the strength of the fibres in the resin, this confirmed the single-fibre data. A novel method of labelling the acidic sites by producing adsorption isotherms was developed to identify surface functionality. Surface acidity correlated well with adhesion levels. Single-fibre pull-out tests, modelled using a new combination failure criterion and fragmentation tests, indicated that the optimum adhesion level for this fibre/resin system was achieved with an electrolytic treatment at 25 C m^–2. The principal effects of this treatment were considered to be due to chemical modification of the fibre surface coupled with the removal of a loosely adherent surface layer.