Molecular simulation of the interfacial properties of an epoxy composite reinforced using a carbon nanotube/carbon fiber hybrid

Molecular simulations of the interfacial properties of (1) a composite with an epoxy(EP) matrix and a carbon nanotube(CNT)/carbon fiber(CF) multi-scale reinforcement and (2) a traditional CF/EP composite were performed employing Materials Studio 4.0 software. Results indicate that the interfacial atom concentration of material 1 is higher that that of material 2 by interfacial molecular structure analysis, and there are many benzene rings in both material 1 and material 2 which are parallel to the crystal layers of CF. The contact layer thickness of material 1 and material 2 is 0.25 and 0.10 nm, respectively. The concentration distribution calculation of EP molecules in the interface shows that the most concentrated part of EP in material 2 appears in the carry-forward area of the contact layer, while it is more close to the contact layer in material 1.