Fabrication and characterization of polyphenylene sulfide composites with ultra-high content of carbon fiber fabrics

In this study, polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) composite, which has ultra-high content of carbon fiber fabrics (CFF), was prepared from CFF and PPS nonwoven by a facile thermal-compressive method. The results show that the PPS composite composed of 80 wt% CFFs has optimal mechanical properties, where the tensile strength, fracture elongation, elastic modulus, flexural strength, flexural modulus, interlaminar shear strength, and impact strength reach to 1200.3 MPa, 20.3%, 25.7 GPa, 1305.6 MPa, 230.6 GPa, 110.3 MPa, and 348.6 KJ/m(2), respectively. In addition, the volume resistivity, conductivity, and surface resistivity of the PPS composite with 80 wt% CFFs can reach to 1.3x10(-2) Omega.cm, 74.9 S/cm, and 1.2x10(-1) Omega.square respectively. The increased interfacial layer and riveting effect between CFFs are responsible for outstanding structural stability and stress transformation, resulting in ultra-high strength and modulus of CFF/PPS composite, as well as the conductive performance. Schematic diagram of failure mechanism and optical microscope images of cross sections of CFF/PPS composites.