Plasma treatment of carbon fiber on the tribological property of polyimide composite

The effect of different ratios of carbon fiber (CF) reinforcing polyimide (PI) and surface treatment of CF on the microstructure and wear resistance of surface layers was studied. The increase of CF content led to a gradual increase in the Interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) values, and the maximum ILSS value arises when the CF content is 15 vol%, with an improvement of 13.45% compared to virgin CF composites. The increased interfacial adhesion could be contributed mainly to the presence of branched PI at the interface region. SEM of the worn surface confirms that the plasma treatment efficiently improves the interfacial adhesion of CF/PI composite. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.