TY - JOUR A1 - Qian, Hui A1 - Bismarck, A. A1 - Greenhalgh, E.S. A1 - Kalinka, Gerhard A1 - Shaffer, M.S.P. T1 - Hierarchical composites reinforced with carbon nanotube grafted fibers: The potential assessed at the single fiber level N2 - The feasibility of reinforcing conventional carbon fiber composites by grafting carbon nanotubes (CNTs) onto the fiber surface has been investigated. Carbon nanotubes were grown on carbon fibers using the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. Iron was selected as the catalyst and predeposited using the incipient wetness technique before the growth reaction. The morphology of the products was characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), which showed evidence of a uniform coating of CNTs on the fiber surface. Contact angle measurements on individual fibers, before and after the CNT growth, demonstrated a change in wettability that can be linked to a change of the polarity of the modified surface. Model composites based on CNT-grafted carbon fibers/epoxy were fabricated in order to examine apparent interfacial shear strength (IFSS). A dramatic improvement in IFSS over carbon fiber/epoxy composites was observed in the single fiber pull-out tests, but no significant change was shown in the push-out tests. The different IFSS results were provisionally attributed to a change of failure mechanism between the two types of tests, supported by fractographic analysis. KW - Composites KW - Nano tubes KW - Grafting KW - Interface PY - 2008 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/cm702782j SN - 0897-4756 SN - 1520-5002 VL - 20 IS - 5 SP - 1862 EP - 1869 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington, DC AN - OPUS4-34568 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -