Surface Modification of Carbon Fiber by Photo-oxygenation and Its Influence on Properties of CF/epoxy Resin Composites

Photo-oxygenation has been recently developed for surface modification of carbon fibers (CF) as an atmospheric and dry method. It was found through the present work about carbon fiber reinforced cement (CFRC) and CF/phenolic resin composites that the improved degree on mechanical properties was as large as that by low temperature plasma treatment. In this paper, mechanism of surface modification by photo-oxygenation and its influence on CFRP composed of CF-paper or CF-cloth and epoxy resin which is generally used as matrix resin have been studied. The results are as follows.(1) Surface modification by photo-oxygenation utilizes a synergist effect of ozone, ultra-violet rays and heat energy.(2) Wettability of photo-generated CF-paper has been remarkably improved over a period of 100 days.(3) Wettability of sized CF by photo-oxygenation is under the influence of size.(4) Flexural properties of CFRP made of photo-oxygenated CF-paper or CF-cloth are better than those of each as-received.