Designing BN@CF hybrid to enhance the epoxy resin towards outstanding anti-corrosion and anti-wear performances

Carbon fiber-reinforced composites (CCs) have been widely used in many advanced applications due to their high specific strength, good corrosion resistance, and wear resistance. Despite recent progresses, obtaining high-performance and durable CCs remains difficult because of low fiber/matrix interfacial adhesion. Here, we designed and fabricated hexagonal boron nitride modified carbon fiber (BN@CF) by chemically grafting functional hexagonal boron nitride (F-BN) nanosheets on polydopamine modified carbon fiber (PDA-CF) surface and used it in increasing the strength of interfacial adhesion between the fibers and epoxy resin (EP). Tensile strength and interfacial shear strength (IFSS) of EP/BN@CF composite increased by 13.8% and 87.2%, respectively, compared with those of pure EP. BN@CF hybrid with unique structure endowed the epoxy composite coating with excellent corrosion resistance property, which greatly enhanced the impedance by two orders of magnitude relative to those of other coatings. Comparing with pure EP, EP/BN@CF composite had a 37.8% reduction in coefficient of friction and 83.0% reduction in wear rate. Such distinguished anti-corrosion performance and wear-resistance were ascribed to the increased fiber/matrix interfacial adhesion strength of EP/BN@CF composite. We believe that the fabricated BN@CF hybrid will open up avenues for various applications. • BN@CF was designed by grafting F-BN on the surface of PDA-carbon fibers. • EP/BN@CF coating was with significant enhancement of corrosion resistance. • Wear resistance of EP/BN@CF composite was strengthened compared with others. • Mechanisms of corrosion resistance and wear resistance of EP/BN@CF coating were clarified.