Abstract
To enhance the mechanical properties of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer composites, a physicochemical scaffold is designed incorporating microscopically architected chemically reactive nanofibers that act as a multiscale bridge between the carbon fibers and the matrix. Thermally activated nanofibers leverage their morphologically driven mechanochemical properties to form covalent bonds with adjacent polymer molecules, creating a co-continuous network that dramatically enhances fiber-matrix load transfer. By meticulously controlling the nanofiber architecture through variable surface area, functional group availability, and polymer chain alignment effects, the extent of covalent bonding between nanofibers and the matrix is manipulated ultimately resulting in improved carbon fiber-matrix adhesion. The concept was validated using polyacrylonitrile nanofibers within an acrylonitrile butadiene styrene matrix in a discontinuous carbon fiber-reinforced composite system. Nanomechanical studies using atomic force microscopy and low-field nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy confirmed immobilized, chemically transferred, and ordered nanostructures at the interphase. The resulting composites demonstrated ≈56% and ≈175% improvements in tensile strength and toughness, respectively, compared to composites without nanofiber. Comprehensive thermal, rheological, and X-ray scattering analyses, along side all-atomic molecular dynamics simulations, revealed the fundamental mechanisms behind these improvements in mechanical behavior. The versatility and efficacy of the approach have the potential to address longstanding interphase challenges in the composite industry.
