Self-assembling silicon carbide@Kh550 onto carbon fiber for tribological applications

In this work, to improve the friction and wear properties of carbon fiber (CF) reinforced resin-based composites (CFRC), silicon carbide (SiC) @ γ-Aminopropyl triethoxysilane (Kh550) was self-assembled on the surface of CF. Compared to the unmodified CFRC, the dynamic friction coefficients of modified ones with different grafting time increased by 0.05, 0.1 and 0.1, respectively, while the wear rates correspondingly dropped sharply by 79%, 56% and 25%, respectively. According to the Raman spectroscopic analysis of worn surfaces, the stress distributions of modified samples were uniform and the stress concentration points decreased. Grafted SiC@Kh550 particles could absorb energy, which was beneficial to increasing the interfacial stress between CF and phenolic resin, thereby alleviating fatigue wear.