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Interface‐Strengthened Polyimide/Carbon Nanofibers Nanocomposites with Superior Mechanical and Tribological Properties
Author(s) -
Zhu Jiahua,
Mu Liwen,
Chen Long,
Shi Yijun,
Wang Huaiyuan,
Feng Xin,
Lu Xiaohua
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
macromolecular chemistry and physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.57
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1521-3935
pISSN - 1022-1352
DOI - 10.1002/macp.201400194
Subject(s) - polyimide , nanocomposite , tribology , materials science , composite material , carbon nanofiber , nanofiber , interface (matter) , polymer chemistry , carbon fibers , carbon nanotube , layer (electronics) , composite number , contact angle , sessile drop technique
A self‐assembling molecule, n ‐octadecane phosphate, is successfully synthesized and used to modify the surface property of carbon nanofibers (CNFs). Both untreated CNFs (CNFs(u)) and treated CNFs (CNFs(t)) are incorporated in polyimide (PI) as filler to study the interfacialproperty‐determined thermal, mechanical, and tribological properties of their corresponding nanocomposites. At room temperature, the mechanical properties of PI/CNFs(t) including elongation‐to‐break, tensile strength, bending strength, and impact strength are remarkably improved by 150%, 29.4%, 26.7%, and 183%, respectively, in comparison with the PI/CNFs(u) composites. At 150 °C, the enhancement of the elongation‐to‐break reaches 250%, while the tensile and flexural‐strength enhancement reduce to 2.8% and 20.4%. In addition, the tribological properties of PI/CNFs(t) composite are also improved due to the better interfacial interaction between the filler and the matrix. Microstructure analysis of the fracture surface directly reveals the better dispersion quality of CNFs(t) in PI and superior interfacial adhesion with the introduced assembling layer.