Vertically aligned TiO ₂ nanorods-woven carbon fiber for reinforcement of both mechanical and anti-wear properties in resin composite

A series of TiO ₂ nanorods were successfully grown on woven carbon fiber by hydrothermal method to reinforce the resin composite. The TiO ₂ nanorods improved the mechanical interlocking among woven carbon fibers and resin matrix, resulting in better fibers/resin interfacial bonding. Compared with desized-woven carbon fiber, the uniform TiO ₂ nanorods array resulted in an improvement of 84.3% and 73.9% in the tensile and flexural strength of the composite. However, the disorderly TiO ₂ nanorods on woven carbon fiber leaded to an insignificant promotion of the mechanical strength. The enhanced performance of well-proportioned TiO ₂ nanorods-woven carbon fiber was also reflected in the nearly 56% decrease of wear rate, comparing to traditional woven carbon fiber reinforced composite.