Effects of the surface modification of carbon fiber by growing different types of carbon nanomaterials on the mechanical and thermal properties of polypropylene

Abstract

The potential usage of different types of carbon nanoparticles in the herringbone, tubular and sheet structures of graphene plates, such as carbon nanofibers (CNF), carbon nanotubes (CNT) and graphene (G) flakes and also CNF–G and CNT–G on the carbon fiber (CF) surface as fillers in composite materials, is discussed in this paper. The combination of 2D graphene of high charge density and 1D CNTs or CNFs of large surface areas generates a versatile 3D hybrid network with synergic properties. A one-step process, chemical vapour deposition technique has been applied to synthesis these carbon nanoparticles (1D, 2D and 3D structures) by use of bimetallic catalyst (Ni/Cu). The morphology and chemical structure of the fibers, which have an effect on the polymer properties, were characterized by means of scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and specially Raman spectroscopy. These techniques were used to identify carbon nanoparticles, access their dispersion in polymers, evaluate filler/matrix interactions and detect polymer phase transitions. Compared with the neat CFs, the synthesized hybrid fibers led to an increase of the BET surface area from 0.7 m² g⁻¹ to 46 m² g⁻¹. Besides that, polypropylene (PP) composites with different carbon-based fillers, such as G on CF (CF–G), CNF on CF (CF–CNF), CNT on CF (CF–CNT) and also CF–CNF–G and CF–CNT–G were prepared by the melt mixed method, and the effects of these particles on the mechanical and thermal properties were analyzed. The mechanical results were confirmed by a mathematical model that state the mechanical reinforcement of the resultant composites strongly depends on the type of filler used. Noteworthy, composites based on combination of G and CNT presented the highest mechanical and thermal properties than those based on other carbon nanoparticles.