Impact of in‐line atmospheric plasma fluorination of carbon fibers on the performance of unidirectional, carbon fiber‐reinforced polyvinylidene fluoride

Abstract

Abstract Unidirectional, carbon fiber‐reinforced polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) composites were manufactured using a powder impregnation process with integrated in‐line continuous atmospheric plasma fluorination of carbon fibers to produce unidirectional carbon fiber/PVDF tapes with a fiber volume fraction of 60 ± 2%. Carbon fiber/PVDF tapes were processed into composite laminate test specimens by compression moulding and interface‐dominated composite properties were studied. Short‐beam shear test results showed an improvement of up to 70% for the composite laminates containing atmospheric plasma‐fluorinated T700 carbon fibers with a fluorine content of 3.7 at. %, as determined by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The flexural strength and modulus of the laminated carbon fiber/PVDF composites containing APF‐treated T700 carbon fibers also increased by 45% and 38%, respectively. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Adv Polym Techn 29:86–97, 2010; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/adv.20175