Electrophoretic deposition of different carbon nanoscale reinforcements on carbon fiber fabrics and mechanical properties of the resulting hybrid multi‐scale epoxy composites

Three types of carbon nanoscale reinforcements (CNRs) including the shortened electrospun carbon nanofibers (ECNFs, with diameters and lengths of ∼200 nm and ∼15 µm, respectively), carbon nanofibers (CNFs), and graphite nanofibers (GNFs) were electrophoretically deposited on carbon fiber (CF) fabrics for the fabrication of hybrid multi‐scale epoxy composites. The results indicated that the electrophoretic deposition (EPD) of CNRs onto CF fabrics led to substantial improvements on mechanical properties of hybrid multi‐scale epoxy composites; in particular, the hybrid multi‐scale epoxy composite containing surface‐functionalized ECNFs (with amino groups) exhibited the highest mechanical properties. The study also indicated that some agglomerates of CNRs (particularly GNFs) could form during the EPD process, which would decrease mechanical properties of the resulting composites. Additionally, the reinforcement mechanisms were investigated, and the results suggested that continuous (or long) ECNFs would outperform short ECNFs on the reinforcement of resin‐rich interlaminar regions in the composites. POLYM. COMPOS., 35:1229–1237, 2014. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers