Carbon Fibers/Poly(trifluoroethyl methacrylate) Composites Synthesized under Supercritical CO2

Carbon fibers(CFs)/poly(trifluoroethyl methacrylate) (CFs/PTFEMA) composites were prepared by the in-situ radical polymerization of trifluoroethyl methacrylate with CFs under the supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO(2)) medium. The structure of composites was characterized by SEM, FT-IR, BET, H-1-NMR, GPC, TGA-DSC and RT-109, respectively. SEM illustrated that the diameter of CFs was about 200-500 nm and CFs was well dispersed in composites. Results showed that CFs strongly influences the properties of composite, especially the electrical properties and resistivity-temperature behaviors. A low percolation threshold was obtained at CFs content of 12 wt% for CFs/PTFEMA composites. The conductive network of the CFs/PTFEMA composites was formed by the contact of the CFs particles. CFs was distributed in PTFEMA and the conductive network constructed by CFs, especially the distribution of conductive filler significantly affects the properties of the CFs/PTFEMA composites. CFs was well dispersed in PTFEMA under the environmental friendly scCO(2) medium and CFs/PTFEMA can be a functional and structural material.