Effect of Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Treatment on Adhesive Bonding of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer

doi:10.3390/polym11010139

. 2019 Jan 15;11(1):139.

doi: 10.3390/polym11010139.

Effect of Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Treatment on Adhesive Bonding of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer

Chengcheng Sun¹, Junying Min^{2

3}, Jianping Lin^{4

5}, Hailang Wan⁶

Affiliations

¹ School of Mechanical Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, China. 15902132360@163.com.
² School of Mechanical Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, China. Junying.Min@tongji.edu.cn.
³ Key Lab of Vehicle Aerodynamics and Vehicle Thermal Management Systems of Shanghai, Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, China. Junying.Min@tongji.edu.cn.
⁴ School of Mechanical Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, China. jplin58@tongji.edu.cn.
⁵ Key Lab of Vehicle Aerodynamics and Vehicle Thermal Management Systems of Shanghai, Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, China. jplin58@tongji.edu.cn.
⁶ School of Mechanical Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, China. hailang_wan@tongji.edu.cn.

PMID: 30960123
PMCID: PMC6401756
DOI: 10.3390/polym11010139

Effect of Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Treatment on Adhesive Bonding of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer

Chengcheng Sun et al. Polymers (Basel). 2019.

. 2019 Jan 15;11(1):139.

doi: 10.3390/polym11010139.

Authors

Chengcheng Sun¹, Junying Min^{2

3}, Jianping Lin^{4

5}, Hailang Wan⁶

Affiliations

¹ School of Mechanical Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, China. 15902132360@163.com.
² School of Mechanical Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, China. Junying.Min@tongji.edu.cn.
³ Key Lab of Vehicle Aerodynamics and Vehicle Thermal Management Systems of Shanghai, Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, China. Junying.Min@tongji.edu.cn.
⁴ School of Mechanical Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, China. jplin58@tongji.edu.cn.
⁵ Key Lab of Vehicle Aerodynamics and Vehicle Thermal Management Systems of Shanghai, Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, China. jplin58@tongji.edu.cn.
⁶ School of Mechanical Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, China. hailang_wan@tongji.edu.cn.

PMID: 30960123
PMCID: PMC6401756
DOI: 10.3390/polym11010139

Abstract

To improve the strength of the adhesive-bonded carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) joints, atmospheric pressure plasma treatment (APPT) was used to treat a CFRP substrate surface. This study investigated the effects of nozzle distance (i.e., the distance between plasma nozzle and CFRP substrate) and nozzle speed (i.e., the moving speed of plasma nozzle relative to CFRP substrate) of APPT on the lap-shear strength of adhesive-bonded CFRP joints. Results show that the lap-shear strength of plasma-treated CFRP joints increased to a peak value and then decreased as the nozzle distance increased, and the nozzle distance associated with the peaked joint strength depends on the applied nozzle speed. The lap-shear strength of plasma-treated adhesive-bonded CFRP joints reaches up to 31.6 MPa, compared to 8.6 MPa of the as-received adhesive-bonded CFRP joints. The surface morphology of plasma-treated CFRP substrates was investigated by scanning electron microscope observation, and the mechanism associated with the improved joint strength after applying APPT was revealed through surface chemistry analysis. It is found that APPT not only effectively removed the content of Si element and ⁻CH₃ (i.e., the main compositions of release agent) from the as-received CFRP substrate surface, but also generated many polar groups (i.e., ⁻NH₂, ⁻OH, ⁻COOH, etc.), which has a positive effect on increasing the wettability and interfacial bonding strength of CFRP substrates and consequently results in a significant improvement of lap-shear strength of plasma-treated CFRP joints. In addition, the result of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) test shows that the surface temperature of CFRP substrate should not exceed 175.3 °C during APPT. In this study, an empirical model governing temperature, nozzle distance and nozzle speed was established to guide the selection of atmospheric pressure plasma treatment process parameters in industrial manufacture.

Keywords: atmospheric pressure plasma treatment; carbon fiber reinforced polymer; shear bond strength; surface modification.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

**Figure 1**
Diagrammatic sketch of the atmospheric pressure plasma treatment equipment.

**Figure 2**
Illustration of the relative motion path between plasma jet and carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP) substrate.

**Figure 3**
Configuration of the adhesive-bonded CFRP joint.

**Figure 4**
Measuring the surface temperature of a CFRP substrate during atmospheric pressure plasma treatment (APPT).

**Figure 5**
The lap-shear strength of adhesive-bonded CFRP joints as a function of the nozzle speed ( $v$ ) and the nozzle distance ( $h$ ).

**Figure 6**
The measured temperature of CFRP substrate surface ( $T_{\exp}$ ) as a function of nozzle speed ( $v$ ) and nozzle distance ( $h$ ).

**Figure 7**
Deviation between the calculated temperature by Equation (1) ( $T_{cal}$ ) and the experimentally measured temperature ( $T_{\exp}$ ) of CFRP substrates surface.

**Figure 8**
SEM images of (a) the as-received CFRP substrate surface and plasma-treated CFRP substrate surfaces of (b) P₅_-10, (c) P₅_-14, (d) P₁₀_-14, (e) P₅_-18, and (f) P₁₀_-18.

**Figure 9**
X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) spectra showing the effect of plasma treatment process parameters on the surface chemistry of CFRP substrate.

**Figure 10**
High resolution XPS scans of C 1 s on the as-received and plasma-treated (P_5-18) CFRP substrate surfaces.

**Figure 11**
FTIR spectra of the as-received and plasma-treated (P_5-18) CFRP substrates.

**Figure 12**
The contact angles of distilled water measured for (a) the as-received and (b) plasma-treated (P_5-18) CFRP substrates.

**Figure 13**
The surface free energies of the as-received and plasma-treated (P_5-18) CFRP substrates.

**Figure 14**
Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) thermogram of the CFRP epoxy resin.

**Figure 15**
Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) showing the change of CFRP substrate weight with increasing temperature.

**Figure 16**
Activated groups and adhesive molecules forming bonding on the CFRP substrate surface.

**Figure 17**
Schematic diagram of atmospheric pressure plasma treatment for the modification of CFRP surface.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

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References

1. Ali A.L., Philipp H., Michael S. Eco-efficiency assessment of manufacturing carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP) in aerospace industry. Aerosp. Sci. Technol. 2018
1. Subhani M., Globa A., Al-Ameri R., Moloney J. Flexural strengthening of LVL beam using CFRP. Constr. Build. Mater. 2017;150:480–489. doi: 10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2017.06.027. - DOI
1. Khalil Y.F. Eco-efficient lightweight carbon-fiber reinforced polymer for environmentally greener commercial aviation industry. Sustain. Prod. Consum. 2017;12:16–26. doi: 10.1016/j.spc.2017.05.004. - DOI
1. Adams R.D. Adhesive Bonding: Science, Technology and Applications. CRC Press; Boca Raton, FL, USA: Woodhead Pub; Sawston, UK: 2005.
1. Wu Y., Lin J., Carlson B.E., Lu P., Balogh M.P., Irish N.P., Mei Y. Effect of laser ablation surface treatment on performance of adhesive-bonded aluminum alloys. Surf. Coat. Technol. 2016;304:340–347. doi: 10.1016/j.surfcoat.2016.04.051. - DOI

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51575397/National Natural Science Foundation of China

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- NCI CPTC Antibody Characterization Program

[1] Ali A.L., Philipp H., Michael S. Eco-efficiency assessment of manufacturing carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP) in aerospace industry. Aerosp. Sci. Technol. 2018

[2] Ali A.L., Philipp H., Michael S. Eco-efficiency assessment of manufacturing carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP) in aerospace industry. Aerosp. Sci. Technol. 2018

[3] Subhani M., Globa A., Al-Ameri R., Moloney J. Flexural strengthening of LVL beam using CFRP. Constr. Build. Mater. 2017;150:480–489. doi: 10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2017.06.027. - DOI

[4] Subhani M., Globa A., Al-Ameri R., Moloney J. Flexural strengthening of LVL beam using CFRP. Constr. Build. Mater. 2017;150:480–489. doi: 10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2017.06.027. - DOI

[5] Khalil Y.F. Eco-efficient lightweight carbon-fiber reinforced polymer for environmentally greener commercial aviation industry. Sustain. Prod. Consum. 2017;12:16–26. doi: 10.1016/j.spc.2017.05.004. - DOI

[6] Khalil Y.F. Eco-efficient lightweight carbon-fiber reinforced polymer for environmentally greener commercial aviation industry. Sustain. Prod. Consum. 2017;12:16–26. doi: 10.1016/j.spc.2017.05.004. - DOI

[7] Adams R.D. Adhesive Bonding: Science, Technology and Applications. CRC Press; Boca Raton, FL, USA: Woodhead Pub; Sawston, UK: 2005.

[8] Adams R.D. Adhesive Bonding: Science, Technology and Applications. CRC Press; Boca Raton, FL, USA: Woodhead Pub; Sawston, UK: 2005.

[9] Wu Y., Lin J., Carlson B.E., Lu P., Balogh M.P., Irish N.P., Mei Y. Effect of laser ablation surface treatment on performance of adhesive-bonded aluminum alloys. Surf. Coat. Technol. 2016;304:340–347. doi: 10.1016/j.surfcoat.2016.04.051. - DOI

[10] Wu Y., Lin J., Carlson B.E., Lu P., Balogh M.P., Irish N.P., Mei Y. Effect of laser ablation surface treatment on performance of adhesive-bonded aluminum alloys. Surf. Coat. Technol. 2016;304:340–347. doi: 10.1016/j.surfcoat.2016.04.051. - DOI

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Effect of Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Treatment on Adhesive Bonding of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer

Affiliations

Effect of Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Treatment on Adhesive Bonding of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

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Cited by

References

Grants and funding

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Full Text Sources

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