Effects of basic chemical surface treatment on PBO and PBO fiber reinforced epoxy composites

The effects of chemical surface treatment on PBO fiber and its composite materials were investigated using a basic sodium hydroxide solution. We evaluated several important treatment parameters quantitatively, including treatment concentration, treatment temperature and treatment time. Both as-spun (AS) and high-modulus (HM) PBO fibers were studied. The results showed that PBO fibers exhibited minimum or negligible reduction in their tensile strengths after the proposed treatment processes. The fibers' contact angles with several liquid media were greatly reduced and the surface free energy could be increased to 58 mJ/m(2) or by 17%. The interfacial shear strength between PBO fiber and the epoxy matrix was improved to 38 MPa or by 11% with the same treatment process. The composite's failure mode also shifted from fiber/matrix interface adhesive failure to partly cohesive failure.