• Church, Jeff
• De Souza, Mandy

Abstract

Knowledge and thorough understanding of the carbon fibre surface are important as it plays a critical role in the performance of carbon fibre composite materials. A series of nitric acid treated intermediate modulus carbon fibres with increasing treatment level was prepared and characterized using a range of surface sensitive techniques including Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) roughness, X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and Raman spectroscopy. The results, which were found to be consistent with increasing treatment levels, were compared to the literature. Raman spectral mapping has been used to investigate the heterogeneity of the carbon fibre surface after nitric acid oxidation. The mapping enabled the effects of surface treatment on carbon fibre to be investigated at a spatial resolution unattainable by XPS and provided chemical structure information not provided by SEM and AFM. The highest level of treatment resulted in the most heterogeneous surface.Raman mapping while time consuming can provide valuable information which can lead to an enhanced understanding of the heterogeneity of the carbon fibre surface.

Topics

• surface
• Carbon
• scanning electron microscopy
• x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
• atomic force microscopy
• composite
• Raman spectroscopy