Microscopic Study of Coated Carbon Fibre Reinforced Copper Matrix Composite Samples

The adhesion between the carbon fibre reinforced copper matrix composite material and the coating is of particular importance for the mechanical and functional properties of the resulting system, and also for its handling and for the lifetime of the final product. To have a better understanding of the microstructure at the interface region, three different coating processes, i.e. electroplated Nickel coating, alkyd resin coating and polyolefin coating have been carried out and compared using SEM/EDX techniques. The experimental results indicate that the electroplated Nickel coating gives the best adhesion strength at the interface, suggesting this method the most promising approach and can be further investigated for electrical and electronic engineering applications in power industry.