Experimental investigation and molecular dynamics simulations of plasma treatment on the interface properties of carbon fiber-reinforced PI resin composites

This paper examines surface modification of carbon fibers using low-temperature plasma and investigates the temperature-dependent interfacial properties of high-performance polyimide-based composites. Additionally, the mechanisms by which air and argon plasma treatments enhance the high-temperature interfacial properties of carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRP) are examined. First, the changes in physical morphology and surface structural defects of carbon fibers under different plasma atmospheres are discussed: carbon fibers develop surface protrusions after various plasma treatments, and a grooved morphology forms after argon plasma treatment. The ID/IG ratio (R value) of the carbon fiber surface increased from 1.25 in untreated fibers to 1.37 after air plasma treatment, and further to 1.60 after argon plasma treatment. The short-beam shear strength test results show that at 300°C, the ILSS (interlaminar shear strength) of argon plasma-treated laminates increased from 67.70 MPa to 87.69 MPa, a 29.53% improvement. The ILSS of air plasma-treated laminates reached 81.46 MPa, a 20.33% improvement. Argon plasma-treated laminates showed more stable interlaminar shear performance at high temperatures, maintaining an interfacial retention rate of 85.11% at 300°C. Secondly, the mechanisms by which air and argon plasma modification enhance the high-temperature interface performance of CFRP are as follows: Air treatment, due to the dual effects of chemical bonding and physical etching, allows the laminated plates to exhibit excellent performance at room temperature. However, in high-temperature environments, the chemical bonding effect is easily affected and damaged, significantly reducing the interface retention rate of the laminated plates. The etching effect of argon treatment is quite significant, which means that the improvement effect of argon mainly manifests in the mechanical interlocking action, with the chemical bonding effect being relatively small. The physical effect of mechanical interlocking is less influenced by temperature, thus the high-temperature retention rate of the laminate is relatively high. Furthermore, molecular dynamics models of the interface were built using atomic simulation to explore how plasma modification introduces active groups that enhance the interface at the molecular level. The impact of these modifications on interfacial structure and energy was analyzed using molecular dynamics metrics. Both experimental and molecular dynamics simulation results confirm that plasma treatment has a positive regulatory effect on the interface.