This research study the effect of surface modification and copper (Cu) plating carbon fiber (CF) surface on the thermal stability and wettability of carbon fiber (CF)/epoxy (EP) composites. The TGA result indicates that the thermal-stability of carbon fiber may be enhanced after Cu coating CF. TGA curve showed that the treatment temperature was enhanced thermal stability of Ep/CF, this is due to the oxidation during heating. The Cu plating increased the thermal conductivity, this increase might be due to reduce in contact resistance at the interface due to chemical modification and copper plating and tunneling resistance.
The increase of surface polarity after coating cause decrease in the value of contact angle. As well as the increase of CuO as a function of the heat temperature cause the rapid contact angle decrease and can strongly enhance the wettability.
