Continuous carbon fiber/crosslinkable poly(ether ether ketone) laminated composites with outstanding mechanical properties, robust solvent resistance and excellent thermal stability

Continuous carbon fiber (CCF) reinforced polymeric composites have attracted significant attention in the aeronautic and automobile industries. In this study, novel CCF/poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK) composites with robust solvent resistance, excellent thermal stability and outstanding mechanical properties were successfully fabricated via a facile solution impregnation process, mainly ascribed to the introduction of the crosslinkable phenylethynyl pendant to PEEK (PEP-PEEK) with excellent solubility. After the crosslinking reaction, PEP-PEEK presented robust solvent resistance, good thermal stability, and high mechanical properties. The longitudinal tensile strength of the CCF/PEP-PEEK composites significantly improved to 1610 MPa, which was 19 times stronger than the longitudinal tensile strength of PEP-PEEK. In the meantime, the CCF/PEP-PEEK composites also had a higher long-term operating temperature, excellent thermal stability and high heat distortion temperature. This study was performed as part of a larger effort to provide a simple and feasible method for the preparation of high quality continuous fiber reinforced poly(ether ether ketone) composites.