Mechanical properties of carbon fiber/cellulose composite papers modified by hot-melting fibers

Carbon fiber (CF)/cellulose (CLS) composite papers were prepared by papermaking techniques and hot-melting fibers were used for modification. The mechanical properties of the obtained composite papers with different CF, CLS and hot-melting fiber ratios were studied and further discussed. It is observed that, for both CF/CLS composite papers and those modified by hot-melting fibers, the normal stress firstly increases and then declines with the addition of carbon fibers. The results also show that with the addition of hot-melting fibers, the modified papers exhibit enhanced mechanical performance compared to CF/CLS composite papers. Through SEM characterization, it is confirmed that the improvement of mechanical properties attributes to the reinforcement of adhesive binding at the fiber overlap nodes. Also, through four-probe method, the resistivity and the electrical performance of the modified and unmodified papers were characterized and the result shows that the hot-melting fiber modification brings no harm to the electrical properties.