Interfacial Crystallization and Adsorption in Polycarbonate/Carbon Fiber Composites

Abstract

A polycarbonate (PC)/carbon fiber (CF) composite system has been ex amined with regard to interfacial crystallization and adsorption by altering times and tem peratures of annealing Times up to 180 min and temperatures of 245, 275, and 300°C have been investigated Transverse tensile. transverse toughness, and scanning electron micros copy results on unidirectional, continuous-fiber composites indicate improved fiber/matrix adhesion at longer times and higher temperatures of annealing The data indicate that ad sorption rather than interfacial crystallization is the likely mechanism for increased adhe sion Interfacial crystallization can occur as a consequence of adsorption Adsorption has been used to explain previous data on PC/CF and PEEK/CF. Isothermal transverse tough ness values have been found to fit well to a Langmuir-type expression. The temperature dependence of adsorption as measured by transverse toughness is described well by an Ar rhenius equation