Investigation on atomic oxygen erosion resistance of self-assembly film at the interphase of carbon fiber composites

This paper proposes a new method based on molecular self-assembly on carbon fiber surface in order to improve atomic oxygen erosion resistance for the interface of carbon fiber/epoxy composites. The self-assembly films were characterized by surface-enhanced Raman scattering and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies. The results indicated that two aromatic thiols indeed chemisorbed onto the Au-plated carbon fiber surfaces in the form of thiolate species via the strong S-Au coordination bond and well-organized with a flat orientation structure. From interfacial shear strength data and atomic force microscopy observation, it is noticed that, after carbon fiber surfaces were assembled with 4-hydroxythiophenol and 4-aminothiolphenol, the atomic oxygen erosion resistance were better than that of untreated and Au-plated carbon fiber/epoxy micro-composites, especially, the micro-composites modified by 4-aminothiolphenol. It will be an effective solution to the two major issues of enhancement of interfacial bonding force and interfacial atomic oxygen erosion resistance.