Synergy of matrix and fibre modification on adhesion between carbon fibres and poly(vinylidene fluoride)

Interfacial properties between carbon fibres and poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) were tuned by modifying both constituents. Atmospheric plasma fluorination (APF) was utilised to tailor the surface composition of carbon fibres, which resulted in an incorporation of up to 3.7 at.% of fluorine functionalities in to the fibre surfaces. The PVDF matrix was modified by blending pure PVDF with maleic anhydride (MAH) grafted PVDF. Both fibre and matrix modifications act in synergy with improvements of up to 50% in the apparent interfacial shear strength (IFSS) above the level of pure fibre or matrix modification. Modification of both constituents led to the formation of various interactions at the fibre/matrix interface namely dispersive and polar (H-bonds) between (modified) PVDF and the fluorine as well as oxygen functionalities on the fibre surfaces. The apparent IFSS between the modified fibres and matrix reaches a maximum of 42 MPa, which is almost the tensile strength of the pure PVDF. The improvements in apparent IFSS in single fibre model composites for both fibre and matrix modifications translated to a seven times improvement in the interlaminar shear strength of unidirectional composites.