Manufacturing and interfacial bonding behavior of plasma-treated-carbon fiber reinforced veneer-based composites

Carbon fiber (CF) reinforced wood materials have been widely used in many construction fields because of their high specific strength and modulus. However, the interfacial properties between CF and matrix usually was unsatisfactory since pristine CF has a low surface energy and chemical inertness. In this study, air plasma was successfully applied to improve the interfacial adhesion between carbon fiber (CF) and adhesive for preparing the fiber-reinforced veneer-based composites with outstanding mechanical performance. Benefiting from the synergetic effect of oxidation and etching of air plasma, the water contact angle of CF decreased by 49.7% and the surface free energy increased by 41.3% after plasma modification. Because of the enhanced interfacial adhesion, the plasma-modified composites exhibited rather uniform strain distribution and excellent mechanical properties. This study suggested that air plasma could become a promising technology in improving interfacial adhesion of CF and adhesive to manufacture the CF-reinforced veneer-based composites.