Study of interphase in glass fiber - Reinforced poly(butylene terephthalate) composites

It is well known that application of a coupling agent to a glass fiber surface will improve fiber/matrix adhesion in composites. However, on commercial glass fibers, the coupling agent forms only a small fraction of the coating, the larger part being a mixture of processing aids whose contribution to composite properties is not well defined. The interfacial region of the composite will therefore be affected by the coating composition and also by the chemical reactions involved in the vicinity of the fiber and inside the surrounding matrix. The main feature of this study consists in dividing the interface region into two separate regions: the fiber/sizing interphase and the sizing/matrix interphase. A wide range of techniques was used, including mechanical and thermomechanical tests, infrared spectroscopy, gel permeation chromatography, carboxyl end group titrations, extraction rate measurements, and viscosity analysis. Experiments were performed on poly(butylene terephthalate) composites and results indicate that the adhesion improvement is due to the presence of a short chain coupling agent and of a polyfunctional additive, which may react both with the coupling agent and the matrix. According to the nature of this additive, it may be possible to soften the interphase and then to increase the composite impact strength.