Reuse polyester/cotton blend fabrics to prepare fiber reinforced composite: Fabrication, characterization, and interfacial properties evaluation

Substantial amount of polyethylene terephthalate/cotton (PET/cotton) blend fabrics have been handled as waste especially in recent decades on account of the technological barrier and/or low economic benefit of recycling PET from PET/cotton fabrics. Herein, a facile and effective approach was utilized to modify PET/cotton fabrics with co-deposition of polyethyleneimine (PEI) and catechol (CCh) to improve the interfacial bonding of fiber-matrix. The surface morphology and composition of fabrics were investigated by FESEM, ATR/FTIR, and XPS. Meanwhile, the surface properties were analyzed via dynamic contact angle. The results indicated that the PEI-CCh co-deposition aggregates were modified onto fabric surface through the synergy of intermolecular hydrogen bonding and π-π stacking. Interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) and interfacial shear strength (IFSS) of modified PET/cotton reinforced composites were 39.71% and 50.25% higher than that of untreated PET/cotton reinforced composites, respectively. Furthermore, the enhancement mechanisms of composites are systematically discussed.