Volume 20, Issue 6, 2011

LETTER: THE EFFECT OF SIZING AGENT OF CARBON FIBRE ON THE INTERFACE OF ELECTRON BEAM CURED COMPOSITES

Jianwen Bao*, Ye Li, Xiangyu Zhong, Xiangbao Chen

Beijing Institute of Aeronautical Materials, Beijing, China, 100095

*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed

Received 12 June 2011; accepted 29 August 2011

ABSTRACT

To understand the effect of interface on the properties of electron beam cured composites, the composition and its chemical structure of the sizing agent of carbon fibres were investigated. The results show that there are alkali groups in the sizing agent of T300 and T800 carbon fibres, and these alkali groups react with the strong proton acids that are generated by the initiator and hinder the EB curing of cationic epoxy resin matrices. The properties of the composites of T300 and T800 carbon fibres cured by EB were poor. In the composites of T700, M40 and M40J carbon fibres, the effects of the sizing agent of the carbon fibres on the EB curing and the composite properties are less than for T300 and T800. After the carbon fibres were extracted by acetone, the properties of their composites improved. In particular, the heat-resistance and mechanical properties of composites of T300 and T800 carbon fibre increased greatly

Keywords:electron beam curing, interface, epoxy, carbon fibre, polymer matrix composites.