Enhancement of interfacial adhesion in UHMWPE fiber/HDPE composites by electrophoretic deposition of graphene oxide on UHMWPE fibers

Abstract

In contrast to the conventional methods of improving interface and performances of UHMWPE fiber composites throughfibre surface modification, this paper has reported a novel approach to deposit graphene oxide (GO) to increase thefiber/matrix interfacial shear strength (IFSS) of ultra high molecular weight polyethylene fibers (UHMWPE fiber)reinforced high density polyethylene (HDPE) composites. To validate our argument, GO has been synthesized and depositedover UHMWPE fiber through electrophoretic deposition. Tuned voltage lead to different thickness of deposited GO steadilyincreasing with the electric field up to 10 V/cm. Coated fibers have been aligned in a mold and an HDPE matrix has beenused to create a single-fiber microcomposite. This latter has resulted to be muchhigher than the ILSS thus proving theefficiency of the new GO coating method here proposed for producing advanced graphene based composites. The failure ofthe composite at the GO/matrix rather than at the GO/UHMWPE fiber interface has been also confirmed by scanningelectron microscopy observation of the fracture surfaces of microcomposites.