The performance of carbon fibre-reinforced composites is dependent to a great extent on the properties of fibre-matrix interface. In this research, based on the reviewed surface modification technique and inspired by the in situ growth of three-dimensional graphene coatings on nanomaterials, a new method of in situ growth of a graphene-related structure on the surface of carbon fibres is to be applied, for which it is intended to use a mixed solution of Ferrous Sulfate Heptahydrate (FeSO₄· 7H₂O) and D-Glucose monohydrate (C₆H₁₂O₆ · H₂O) to treat the carbon fibres under specific conditions to in-situ growth of a graphene-related coatings on the surface of carbon fibres. Firstly, the method was carried out by heating the mixed solution under specific temperature on the silicon wafer substrate and followed with characterisation experiments such as Raman and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Then, the mixed solution was applied on the carbon fibres and treated under the same condition. The characterisation results indicated successfully growth of the porous carbon coatings on the surface of the carbon fibres, which contained with graphene-related structures, while other characterization experiment like Transition Electron Microscopy (TEM) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) will need to be used to further characterise the porous carbon structure. The interfacial shear strength between the fibre and the porous carbon coating also need to be characterised by using the micro-bond test.

Networked fabrics are a type of three-dimensional multilayer fabrics having predetermined interconnections between layers by combining yarns from two adjacent sublayers into one. This paper reports the research on the influence of structural parameters on the ballistic performance of networked fabrics using finite element analysis in parallel with experiment. The widths of separate and combined sections are found to affect the energy absorption (EA) of regular networked fabrics against high-velocity impact. Separate sections of networked fabrics generally outperform combined sections. The optimal width of the separate section is around 9.5 cm for both dense and loose networked fabrics when impacted at the separate section. The optimal width of combined section decreases from 2.38 cm to 1.15 cm with the decrease of weave density in this area. For the studied structural parameters, highest EAs of dense and loose networked fabrics are around 13.3% and 17.1% higher than those of their counterpart layups of dense and loose plain-woven fabrics, respectively. These findings suggest networked fabrics could be engineered to improve the ballistic performance of flexible fabrics.

Diamane, the thinnest sp³-hybridized diamond film, has attracted great interest due to its excellent mechanical, electronic, and thermal properties inherited from both graphene and diamond. In this study, the friction properties of surface hydrogenated and fluorinated diamane (H- and F-diamane) are investigated with dispersion-corrected density functional theory (DFT) calculations for the first time. Our calculations show that the F-diamane exhibits approximately equal friction to graphene, despite the presence of morphological corrugation induced by sp³ hybridization. Comparative studies have found that the coefficient of friction of H-diamane is about twice that of F-diamane, although they have the same surface geometric folds. These results are attributed to the packed charge surface of F-diamane, which can not only effectively shield carbon interactions from two contacting films, but also provide strong electron–electron repulsive interaction, resulting in a large interlayer distance and a small wrinkle of potential energy at the interface. The interesting results obtained in this study have enriched our understanding of the tribological properties of diamane, and are the tribological basis for the design and application of diamane in nanodevices.

Purpose: – The purpose of this paper is to propose a new indicator-gray porosity that can objectively evaluate real porosities of electromagnetic shielding (EMS) fabric based on computer image analysis, which aims to address current porosity evaluation by tightness. Design/methodology/approach: – A method for the fabric image acquisition is determined and a gray digital model is established. The porosity membership region of true porosity is judged according to the total gray wave. A bi-directional judgment method based on horizontal and vertical single gray waves is proposed to automatically identify the gray porosity in the porosity membership region. After experiments, the differences between the gray porosity indicator and the tightness indicator are analyzed, the influence of the gray porosity on the shielding effectiveness (SE) is discussed, and the advantages of the gray porosity indicator are detailed. Findings: – Results show that the proposed indicator can accurately represent the real porosity size of the EMS fabric without pre-acquiring the structure parameters of the fabric, which provides a reference for the study of the electromagnetic characteristic of the EMS fabric. Originality/value: – The gray porosity presented in this paper is a new method to objectively evaluate real porosities of the EMS fabric, and can be applied to the research and evaluation of the electromagnetic characteristic for the EMS fabric.