Oxygen plasma treatment of high performance fibers for composites

G. M. Wu*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal Article peer-review

168 Scopus citations

Abstract

High performance rigid-rod polymeric materials provide potential applications as reinforcement fibers for advanced composites. In this study, we investigated the surface modification of poly(1,4-phenylene-cis-benzobisoxazole) (PBO) fiber by oxygen plasma treatments. Kevlar and carbon fibers were also examined for comparison. The corresponding changes in the surface free energy components were carefully evaluated using a Cahn dynamic contact angle analysis system. The results showed that the total surface free energy (γ) of PBO fiber was increased from 43.3 to 61.1mJm-2 (by 41%) using 70W oxygen plasma treatment for 5min. The polar component of the surface free energy increased much more readily than the dispersive component. In addition, the untreated PBO fiber had a tensile strength of 5.72GPa while the treated PBO fiber had an average of 5.55GPa. This represented a small reduction of only 3%. The effect of oxygen plasma treatment on the composite's interfacial adhesion property was carried out using microbond fiber pull-out test. The interfacial shear strength increased from 34.7MPa for the untreated PBO fiber system to 44.7MPa, after the oxygen plasma treatment for 5min. It has been suggested that oxygen plasma is an effective process for rigid-rod PBO fiber.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)81-87
Number of pages7
JournalMaterials Chemistry and Physics
Volume85
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 15 05 2004

Keywords

  • Interfacial shear strength
  • Oxygen plasma
  • PBO fiber
  • Surface property

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