Surface molecular degradation of high performance carbon/bismaleimide composites induced by proton irradiation

This work aims to identify and describe the effects of proton irradiation in ultra high vacuum environment on the surface degradation of high performance carbon/bismaleimide composites used in aerospace. The changes in surface molecular structure and surface chemical composition with increasing irradiation fluence were studied by Attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, respectively. The evolution of surface morphology and surface roughness were characterized by atomic force microscopy. The results indicated that the proton irradiation caused surface degradation of the carbon/bismaleimide composites by altering their surface chemical structure and surface morphology. The surface chemical bonds were broken largely and the extent of carbonification at the surface layer of the composites was enhanced with increasing irradiation fluence. The increment in the carbon concentration and the sharp reduction in the oxygen and nitrogen concentration with increasing irradiation fluence were caused by the emission of some oxygen-containing and nitrogen-containing small molecules from the material surface under high vacuum environment. The surface roughness firstly increased under the fluence lower than 5 × 1015 cm−2, and then decreased after the irradiation fluence increased to some extent.