Study on surface modification of carbon fiber felt

To improve needling property of the carbon fiber felt, dimethyl siloxane, imidazole and water-soluble dimethyl siloxane were used as the surface modification agent of fiber felt. Then the samples were prepared by using the same needling process. The SEM shows that the felt fibers are conglutinated each other after treated with dimethyl siloxane, but the felt fibers after treated with the water-soluble dimethyl siloxane are loose and their surface is smooth. Among three kinds of samples, the peel strength of the sample treated with imidazole is up to 0.144 MPa, the others reach 0.128 MPa. Due to dissolving with water at any scale and low cost, the water-soluble dimethyl siloxane becomes the ideal surface treatment agent for carbon fiber felt.