Toughening epoxy thermosets and their carbon fibre reinforced composites with electrospun nanofibres

Electrospun nanofibres have emerged as important fibrous materials for diverse applications. They have been shown excellent toughening results when they are applied as interlayer materials between carbon/epoxy laminas in the structural carbon fibre reinforced epoxy matrix composites. They also exhibit synergistic modification effects when they are combined with carbon nanofibres in the thermosetting polymer matrix. In this study, electrospun polyetherketone cardo (PEK-C) nanofibres were used in two ways: directly electrospun onto the surface of carbon fabric [1], and blended with epoxy resin in the form of PEK-C/VGCNF (vapour grown carbon nanofibre) composite nanofibres[2].The interlaminar fracture toughness, flexural properties and thermal mechanical properties of the modified systems were investigated.