Abstract
Carbon fiber composite performance relies on the fiber-matrix interface for effective load transfer. To enhance interfacial properties between the fiber and matrix, often carbon fiber surfaces are oxidatively and covalently modified to incorporate chemical functional groups. By contrast, here, noncovalent electrodeposition of functional polyelectrolyte is applied onto conducting carbon fibers from aqueous solutions. A natural polymer, chitosan (CS), is electro-deposited onto the fiber surface, which undergoes multi-scale physical interactions. The bound CS layer with abundant amine functionalities reacts with epoxy moieties within the matrix to improve the interfacial properties. The scalable and energy-efficient electrodeposition eliminates traditional functionalization and sizing requirements of carbon fiber while delivering significantly higher mechanical performance with enhanced consistency. For continuous fiber reinforced composites, compared to conventional fibers, apparent interlaminar shear strength increases by 27%, reaching ≈86 MPa. The short fiber composites with only 2–11 wt.% fibers exhibit ≈20% increase in tensile strength with a peak performance of 120 MPa. Unlike traditionally treated and sized carbon fiber, this approach delivers coated fibers with long shelf-life and allows recovery of both CS in electrolyte form and carbon fiber by continuous electrochemical processing of the modified fibers with inverse polarity; thus, it promotes overall fiber recyclability.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | e00395 |
| Journal | Advanced Materials Interfaces |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue number | 15 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Aug 7 2025 |
Funding
The work done under the sustainable transportation program was supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) and Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO). LTK acknowledges support from the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division [FWP# ERKCK60] for experiments with dynamic light scattering. This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy (DOE). The US Government retains, and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US Government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for US Government purposes. DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan (http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan). This manuscript has been authored by UT‐Battelle, LLC, under contract DE‐AC05‐00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy (DOE). The US Government retains, and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US Government retains a nonexclusive, paid‐up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for US Government purposes. DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan ( http://energy.gov/downloads/doe‐public‐access‐plan ). The work done under the sustainable transportation program was supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) and Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO). LTK acknowledges support from the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division [FWP# ERKCK60] for experiments with dynamic light scattering.
Keywords
- carbon fiber
- chitosan
- electrochemical deposition
- epoxy composite
- interfacial properties