Premium
Investigation of the interphase structures and properties of carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites exposed to hydrothermal treatments using peak force quantitative nanomechanics technique
Author(s) -
Niu YiFan,
Yang Ying,
Wang XiaoRui
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
polymer composites
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.577
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1548-0569
pISSN - 0272-8397
DOI - 10.1002/pc.24245
Subject(s) - materials science , interphase , composite material , peek , epoxy , polymer , polyether ether ketone , nanomechanics , phase (matter) , atomic force microscopy , nanotechnology , chemistry , genetics , organic chemistry , biology
In order to understand the role of interphase in polymer‐matrix composites, a Peak Force Quantitative Nanomechanics technique based on atomic force microscopy was applied to explore the structures and mechanical properties of the interphase region in carbon fiber reinforced poly(ether‐ether‐ketone) (T300/PEEK) and carbon fiber reinforced epoxy (T700/epoxy) composites. The quantitative topographies and elastic modulus maps of each phase of the composites were acquired after 4, 8, 12, 18, and 24 h of hydrothermal ageing. The interphase thickness of T300/PEEK increased from 68.1 ± 10.9 to 76.9 ± 17.0 nm after 8 h of degradation and kept stable at 78.2 ± 18.6 nm, while that of T700/epoxy increased from 45.2 ± 4.1 to 110.8 ± 13.8 nm in the first 8 h and remain stable until 24 h of degradation. Moreover, the moduli of PEEK matrix and epoxy matrix presented a steady and continuous decrease, respectively, during the hydrothermal ageing process and the enlargement of interphase thickness can be attributed to the plasticizing and hydrolytic effects. POLYM. COMPOS., 39:E791–E796, 2018. © 2016 Society of Plastics Engineers