Endowing high-strength and high-modulus carbon fiber reinforced vinyl ester resin composites (HMCF/VE composites) with superior interfacial performance would produce advanced composites with great potential for applications in daily life and industry. Herein we report on depositing the reactive vinyl-group-graft MXene nanosheets (Vi@MX) on the surface of HMCFs through electrophoretic deposition (EPD) technology, achieving the Vi@MX-HMCFs with a surface presenting high roughness and containing the vinyl and hydroxy reactive groups similar to those in VE resin. As a result, the Vi@MX-HMCF/VE composites reveal a significant interfacial performance because of the synergistic interactions involving mechanical engagement, hydrogen bonding, and chemical covalent cross-link in the interphase. The Vi@MX-HMCF/VE composites’ interfacial shear strength (IFSS) and interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) are respectively 57.77 MPa and 69.85 MPa, an increase of 158.59 % and 45.95 % relative to the untreated HMCF/VE composites. In addition, the fracture toughness and interphase thickness of the composites are also greatly improved. This work provides a potential strategy to enhance the multiscale interfacial bonding capability, enabling more effective ways to enhance the interfacial properties of advanced HMCF/VE composites.

Efficient thermal management has become a critical bottleneck limiting the development of electronic, energy, and aerospace systems toward higher integration and power densities. Carbon fiber reinforced epoxy composites (CFRPs) have emerged as promising structural–functional integrated materials for thermal management, owing to their lightweight nature, high mechanical strength, and excellent designability. This review systematically presents recent advances in CFRPs for thermal management applications. First, we discuss strategies for constructing three-dimensional thermal conduction networks and tuning CF orientation, revealing the phonon transport mechanisms that enable efficient heat transfer at low filler loadings. Second, we analyze interfacial engineering approaches, including chemical modification, nanoparticle mediation, gradient modulus design, and hierarchical structures. Third, we explore the breakthrough advantages of additive manufacturing in realizing complex geometries and directional heat transport, with a focus on the mechanisms by which path design, impregnation defects, and interfacial damage influence overall performance. Finally, we summarize the key challenges facing CFRPs in terms of the trade-off between thermal conductivity and mechanical properties, precise interfacial regulation, and scalable manufacturing. Future directions including artificial intelligence assisted design, smart thermoresponsive materials, and green manufacturing are proposed to accelerate the transition of CFRPs from conventional structural composites to next generation intelligent thermal functional materials.

In recent years, electrophoretic deposition (EPD) MXene nanoparticles have been used to improve the interface performance of high modulus carbon fiber (HMCF) composites. However, the traditional cathodic electrophoretic deposition technique causes carbon fibers to oxidize, which affects the strength of the carbon fibers themselves. The unstable and easily decomposable characteristics of MXene nanosheets particularly limit the effectiveness of improving the interface performance of thermoplastic polyetheretherketone (PEEK) composites. This study adopts the cathodic electrophoretic deposition process to reduce the damage to carbon fibers; it introduces a temperature-resistant antioxidant polyethyleneimine (PEI), and combines MXene with it through hydrogen bonds and electrostatic interactions to prepare a water-based PEI/MXene nanoparticle dispersion with positive surface charge and excellent thermal stability. These nanoparticles meet the requirements of the cathodic electrophoretic deposition process and the processing of HMCF/PEEK composites. The surface energy of PXM-HMCF is 174.93 % higher than that of D-HMCF. PMX provides a rigid mechanical locking structure at the interface and a flexible modulus transition layer, which increases the interlayer shear strength (ILSS) of PMXHMCF/PEEK composites to 70.66 MPa, which is 63.22 % higher than that of D-HMCF/PEEK (43.29 MPa). The bending strength of PMX-HMCF/PEEK composites also increases by 22.77 %.

Natural load-bearing structures combine a persistent framework with reversible contacts that redistribute stress before a dominant crack develops. We translated this principle to vinyl ester resin using a polymerizable ion pair (IP) bearing quaternary-ammonium and indole groups. Staged radical curing allowed the interaction-rich units to associate before they were fixed within a covalent bisphenol-A epoxy acrylate/phenoxyethyl acrylate network. Compared with IP0-VE, the optimum IP0.3-VE formulation increased tensile strength, modulus, elongation at break and tensile work-to-fracture density by 22.8%, 13.1%, 25.7% and 60.0%, respectively. Functionalising graphene oxide with the cationic monomer produced GO-DAC and extended the same motif to the nanosheet interface. At 0.04 wt%, GO-DAC increased tensile strength, elongation and work-to-fracture density by 29.4%, 94.4% and 183.2%, respectively, relative to IP0-VE. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed that nitrogen-containing environments were introduced into the cured formulations, with the strongest N 1s response for IP0.3-VE/GO-DAC. Dynamic mechanical analysis, atomic force microscopy and fracture morphology linked the improved mechanical response to broader relaxation, redistributed local deformation and crack deflection. Seven-day simulated-seawater exposure softened the IP-containing networks. Nevertheless, IP0.3-VE/GO-DAC retained 93.0% of its first-cycle peak stress after ten wet cycles, while its wet cycle-10 stress remained 83.4% of its dry cycle-10 value. Chemically fixed ion pairs and an interaction-active interface therefore offer a bioinspired strategy for improving the strength–toughness balance of vinyl ester networks while maintaining a stable short-term cyclic response after seawater exposure.

ABSTRACT High‐modulus carbon fiber/epoxy resin (HMCF/EP) composites are promising lightweight materials for critical components in new energy vehicles. However, their practical use is hindered by brittle‐fiber processability, weak interfaces, and insufficient multifunctional integration. Here, a nano‐SiC regulated in situ 3D printing strategy is developed to fabricate sandwich‐structured HMCF/SiC/EP composites. During continuous deposition, SiC nanoparticles are selectively enriched at fiber and EP interfacial gaps. This interfacial enrichment densifies the interphase, suppresses void formation, bridges adjacent fibers, and constructs coupled pathways for thermal transport and electromagnetic attenuation. The optimized composite with 5 wt.% SiC achieves a flexural strength of 784.2 MPa and an interlaminar shear strength of 63.2 MPa, corresponding to improvements of 34.8% and 17%. The in‐plane thermal conductivity reaches 33.65 W/(m K), which is 66% higher than that of the unmodified composite. Meanwhile, the through‐plane thermal conductivity reaches 1.27 W/(m K), showing a remarkable 354% enhancement. The X‐band electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding effectiveness reaches 56.44 dB, a 241% improvement. These results identify targeted interfacial enrichment as a decisive factor in resolving the structure–function incompatibility of brittle continuous fiber composites beyond indiscriminate filler loading. These results demonstrate a potential interfacial engineering strategy for additive manufacturing of lightweight multifunctional composites with enhanced mechanical, thermal management, and EMI shielding capabilities.

This review delineates a transformative strategy in advanced materials: the integration of Ti3C2Tx MXene with carbon fibers (CFs) to forge a new class of multifunctional structural composites. This integration strategy signifies a paradigm shift from simple structural components to multifunctional material systems. Moving beyond conventional interface enhancement, precise modification techniques such as self-assembly, electrophoretic deposition, chemical grafting, and blending-spinning synergistically combine the outstanding mechanical properties of CFs with the diverse electrical, thermal, and optical characteristics of Ti3C2Tx MXene. This synergistic coupling effectively overcomes the long-standing limitations of CFs, including surface inertness and functional singularity. The review systematically examines the resulting performance improvements across a range of frontier applications, including interface reinforcement, electromagnetic shielding, battery energy storage, smart sensing, and thermal management. However, achieving industrial applications still depends on overcoming key challenges related to Ti3C2Tx MXene stability, scalable processing, and multifunctional optimization. This review not only summarizes current research progress but also outlines a roadmap for future studies, emphasizing sustainable processing, interfacial nanoengineering, and the rational design of next-generation structure-function-integrated composites.

Overcoming the limitations of conventional ultraviolet (UV) photoinitiators in biomedical applications, such as shallow curing depth and cytotoxicity, requires the development of efficient long-wavelength-activatable systems. Herein, we report the rational design of BDP-OXE-Me, a novel oxime ester-functionalized aza-boron-dipyrromethene (Aza-BODIPY) photoinitiator optimized for deep photocuring. This molecule exhibits a strong absorption maximum at 680 nm with a high molar extinction coefficient (epsilon) of 8.02 & times; 104 M- 1 cm- 1, enabling activation within the red-to-near-infrared window. As a single-component type I photoinitiator, BDP-OXE-Me successfully initiated the free radical polymerization of trimethylolpropane triacrylate (TMPTA) under light irradiation. More significantly, a two-component system comprising BDP-OXE-Me and iodonium salt (ION) sensitizer achieved efficient deep photocuring under low-intensity 680 nm LED light, curing TMPTA into a robust, millimeter-scale polymer film with a thickness of 0.5 mm. Mechanistic studies confirm that the oxime ester moiety enhances intersystem crossing (ISC) to populate reactive triplet states (Tn), while thermodynamic analysis reveals a spontaneous photoinduced electron transfer (PET) pathway (Delta G et = -0.389 eV) with ION. This work positions oxime ester-modified Aza-BODIPY hybrids as transformative platforms that show promise for deep-penetration, biocompatible photopolymerization in precision biomedicine and advanced manufacturing.

Next-generation high-power electronics and aerospace systems require structural materials that combine high load-bearing capacity, efficient thermal management, and effective electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding. High-modulus carbon fiber (HMCF) composites promise these properties, but their 3D printing process faces a key conflict. Low-viscosity resins allow damage-free printing yet create weak interfaces. High-viscosity resins strengthen the interface at the expense of fiber integrity. Here, we report the stable additive manufacturing of continuous HMCF through a bioinspired "rigid-flexible" interface engineering strategy enabled by in-situ 3D printing. A rigid continuous HMCF skeleton is seamlessly integrated with a flexible epoxy/MXene (EPMX) interfacial network. This design protects brittle HMCF during printing while establishing continuous pathways for phonon and electron transport across the interface. The optimized composites deliver record-high performance. Tensile strength reaches 491.94 MPa (111.46% increase), flexural strength is 845.48 MPa (50.36% increase), interlaminar shear strength hits 77.64 MPa (48.08% increase), in-plane thermal conductivity is 42.93 W/ (m center dot K) (99.58% increase), through-plane thermal conductivity is 1.32 W/(m center dot K) (325.81% increase), and EMI shielding effectiveness reaches 47.95 dB (189.73% increase) via a reflection-dominated mechanism. All these gains come without sacrificing mechanical property. This work establishes a paradigm that converts a manufacturing challenge into a design opportunity, offering a broadly applicable platform for multifunctional composites with synergistic mechanical, thermal, and EMI shielding performance across various fibers and nanomaterial systems.

Additive manufacturing (AM) of carbon/carbon (C/C) composites struggles with the dimensional fidelity, mechanical robustness, and functional integration due to their severe pyrolysis shrinkage and discontinuous reinforcement. Herein, a strategy integrating continuous carbon fiber (CCF) structural reinforcement with sulfonation-carbonization regulation is proposed for manufacturing functional C/C composites via AM. Using the dual-filament co-extrusion AM, the polypropylene (PP) precursors incorporating axially aligned CCFs are fabricated. Subsequently, the sulfonation-induced crosslinking and carbonization are applied to unidirectional, 31 vol% CCF reinforced PP precursor, achieving a C/C composite with a volumetric shrinkage below 1 % and a carbon yield of 77 %, ensuring the low linear dimensional errors in complex geome83tries, which is mainly attributed to the constraining of the 3D continuous fiber skeleton in precursors. The resulted CCF-reinforced C/C composites (e.g., PP-31 %CCF) exhibit significantly enhanced mechanical properties including a tensile strength of 54.4 MPa surpassing short carbon fiber (SCF) reinforced versions by 68 times, alongside the flexural strength of 56.6 MPa, and the interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) of 5.1 MPa. Simultaneously, the PP-31 %CCF leverages its continuous conductive network to achieve an ultralow electrical resistance at 2 Omega, and superior electrothermal efficiency with a low comprehensive heat transfer coefficient (Hr + c) of 0.036 W oC-1, demonstrating its capabilities of Joule heating and real-time damage monitoring through a strain-dependent resistance response under compression. Thus, the CCF-reinforced C/C composites with the integration of high mechanical strength and electrical functionalities highlights the significant potential for aerospace load-bearing components and intelligent thermal management systems.

Carbon fibers (CFs) suffer from poor impedance matching despite strong dielectric loss, limiting their microwave absorption (MA) performance. Here, we developed a novel room-temperature electrochemical cathodic deposition strategy to in situ construct Cu-based metal-organic framework (Cu-MOF) layers on CF surfaces, simultaneously electrostatically assembling carbon nanotubes (CNTs) within these layers. The resulting Cu-MOF/CNT@CF features a heterostructure with an interpenetrating conductive network, maintaining the Cu-MOF's high porosity and intact heterointerfaces to optimize impedance matching, while enhancing conduction and polarization losses through the contribution of CNTs. At an ultralow filler loading of 5 wt%, Cu-MOF/CNT@CF achieves a remarkable maximum reflection loss (RLmin) of -60.6 dB at the thickness of 3.9 mm and an effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 4.06 GHz at 2.5 mm, representing 32% and 37% improvements over pristine CF, respectively. This mild, efficient, and damage-free approach provides a promising pathway for designing high-performance, lightweight structural-functional microwave absorbers.

High modulus carbon fibers (HMCF) are characterized by inherent brittleness and susceptibility to processing damage, resulting in compromised forming efficiency and inferior impact resistance of their reinforced composites. Herein, the silk-carbon fiber core-spun yarns (SCFs), featuring HMCF as the core and silk fibroin nanofibers as the spun yarns, were fabricated using the conjugated electrospinning technology. Due to the circumferential wrapping of silk nanofibers acting as an energy-absorbing cushion and buffer layer, the flexibility of the SCFs was significantly enhanced. Notably, the SCF-4, with a linear density of 184.5 g km(-1), achieved a loop strength of 40.43 N, corresponding to a 168.82% increase compared to the pure HMCF. The SCFs/Epoxy (EP) composites also demonstrated improved impact resistance and overall mechanical performance, with an impact strength of 31.18 kJ m(-2), representing a 54.2% enhancement over the pure HMCF/EP composite. This development introduces a new hybrid fiber composite for advanced HMCF applications.

With the development of high-power electronic devices, the demand for polymer composites with superior thermal management and mechanical properties is increasing. In this work, continuous carbon fiber/epoxy resin/hexagonal boron nitride (CCF/EP/h-BN) composites were fabricated via in situ three-dimensional (3D) printing. By adjusting the h-BN content from 0 to 20 wt%, the composites achieved both enhanced interlaminar shear strength (from 53.5 to 60.4 MPa) and a remarkable improvement in thermal conductivity, reaching a peak value of 13.5 W/mK at 15 wt% h-BN (129% higher than unfilled CF/EP). Elemental mapping and finite element simulation revealed that increasing h-BN content promotes the formation of a continuous 3D bridging network, which serves as an efficient thermal pathway and reduces interfacial thermal resistance. The combined experimental and simulation results confirm that the synergistic effect of highly oriented CFs and well-dispersed h-BN enables outstanding thermal management and mechanical reliability. This study provides new insights and technical guidance for the structural and functional integration of polymer composites for advanced electronic packaging.

Shortening the carbonization residence time offers a direct route to increase industrial carbon fiber throughput and reduce cost. To enable this, time-dependent structural evolution was systematically investigated by precisely varying the residence times of low- and high-temperature carbonization (LTC and HTC) on a pilot-scale continuous production line. Comparative analysis of the chemical composition and physical structure established a time-resolved evolution model. A critical residence time of similar to 1 min was identified for both LTC and HTC. Before the critical residence time, heteroatom removal was pronounced and structural rearrangement initiated rapid formation of carbon microcrystallites; as the critical residence time was approached, a turbostratic carbon network was established and the tensile strength and Young's modulus reached similar to 4.9 and similar to 250 GPa, respectively. Beyond the critical residence time, structural evolution continued to progress, but the growth trend slowed, and further improvements in mechanical properties were marginal.

Electrochemical treatment has a significant effect on the properties of carbon fibers (CFs). In this study, the effect of mild electric field action on the microstructure and properties of polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-based high-modulus CFs (HMCFs) and high-strength CFs (HSCFs) was investigated. Under the action of a mild electric field, CFs did not show obvious defects, but their microstructure, mechanical properties and electrical properties were affected. For HMCFs, the graphitization degree in both axial and radial directions of the fibers had a decreasing trend, the grain spacing increased, and the grain size and degree of orientation decreased, which led to a decrease in the tensile strength, tensile modulus and axial conductivity. However, for HSCFs, the pattern of change was exactly opposite to that of HMCFs. The results of this study can provide useful guidance for optimizing the production process and surface modification of CFs.

High-modulus continuous carbon fiber (HMCCF) composites face interfacial challenges that limit their mechanical performance, while conventional sizing agents raise environmental concerns. This study introduces a sustainable, water-soluble sizing agent derived from hydrolyzed silk fibroin (HSF) to modify HMCCF surfaces. Characterization reveals that HSF sizing significantly enhances surface energy and introduces active groups (e.g., -COOH, -NH2), improving fiber wettability and interfacial adhesion with epoxy resin (EP). Optimal performance is achieved at 2 mg/mL HSF concentration (HMCCF-HSF2/EP), where interfacial shear strength (IFSS) and interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) increase to 63.33 and 76.62 MPa, respectively. Mechanistic studies confirm that HSF forms a stress-buffering and energy-dissipating interphase through covalent/hydrogen bonding, enabling efficient stress transfer. This work pioneers a fully bio-based, eco-friendly sizing strategy for high-performance HMCCF/EP composites.

Nitrogen-doped porous carbon nanocomposites are highly sought-after materials for electromagnetic wave absorption due to their unique combination of electrical and magnetic properties. However, achieving optimal absorption performance within the critical C-band (4-8 GHz) frequency range remains a significant challenge. Ni@NPC nanocomposites, synthesized through the polymer bubbling technique, demonstrated exceptional microwave absorption (MWA) performance in the C-band. These materials exhibited a reflection loss (RL) of-65.20 dB at a thickness of 4.8 mm. When carbonized at 600 degrees C, a thickness of 2.0 mm achieved an effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 5.74 GHz. The remarkable absorption performance is ascribed to the combined effect of their porous composition and the addition of nitrogen dopants, which efficiently foster various microwave attenuation processes. Furthermore, the material's effectiveness in real-world applications was evaluated using computer simulation technology (CST). This work highlights the potential of the one-pot fabrication method for developing high-performance MWA materials with practical applications.

For the intelligent 4D-printed actuators, the excellent performance, including quickly reversible spatial-shape transformation and locking, digital and precise shape manipulation in real-time, and remote actuation in special spaces or harsh environments, is significantly desirable but still challenging. Here, using a UV-curable system containing the shape memory polymer (SMP) and NdFeB particles, namely the magSMP composite, we fabricate a real-time reprogrammable soft actuator via high-resolution Digital Light Processing (DLP)-based 4D printing. The printed structure is composed of an array of physical binary magSMP composite elements (m-bits), analogous to digital bits. Owing to the NdFeB's photothermal effect, each m-bit can be independently and reversibly switched between unlocking or locking states (allowing or prohibiting responsive shape-morphing) in response to the on/off state of NIR-II light. Through projecting NIR-II light patterns for encoding a set of binary instructions onto 4D-printed actuators, the real-time light-programmed deformations are induced precisely under an actuation magnetic field due to the NdFeB's huge coercivity. Thus, the synergistic magnetic and light field-manipulated multimodal deformations of actuators, including mimosa shape changing, grasping, and wire guiding, are achieved. This study shines lights on the fabrication of soft structures of arbitrary sizes and provides their future perspectives in soft robot design.

Abstract With recent progress in 2D materials, Ti3C2Tx MXene featured high metallic electrical conductivity, high electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness, and super in‐plane stiffness, exhibits unique advantages in many fields, but is rarely applied as a sizing agent in long‐time continuous processing of carbon fiber sizing because of its poor ambient stability in aqueous suspension. Herein, a new strategy to chemically encapsulate the reactive sites of MXene nanosheet with l‐cysteine for restricting the attacking of water and/or oxygen in aqueous suspension is proposed. Based on the ultra‐antioxidation, polarity, and electrical properties of l‐cysteine‐encapsulated Ti3C2Tx MXene (LC‐MX) nanosheet, the LC‐MX, even if aging for weeks in aqueous suspension, can be deposited on the surface of high‐modulus carbon fiber (HMCF) uniformly via the electrophoretic deposition assisted sizing. Benefiting from the enhanced surface energy, wettability, and roughness of LC‐MX‐sized HMCF (HMCF‐LCMX) relative to that of unsized one (U‐HMCF), the interfacial property of HMCF‐LCMX/epoxy (EP) composites is also improved, for which the interlayer shear strength (ILSS) of the composite reached 88.5 MPa, 52.8% higher than that of U‐HMCF/EP composite (57.9 MPa). This work makes an essential step toward the application of ultra‐stable MXene nanosheet suspension in large‐scale continuous carbon fiber sizing.

CF has smooth surface and low reactivity due to high temperature graphitization,resulting in poor interfacial adhesion of CF composites. Heteroatom modification is one of the effective methods to improve the surface reactivity of CF. In the organic composite electrolyte solution, the surface oxidation and nitridation treatment of the high-strength and high-modulus carbon fiber（CF） were carried out by cyclic voltammetry（CV）. The surface element composition and microscopic morphology of CF were characterized by XPS, SEM and Raman spectroscopy. A comparative analysis based on the obtained data reveals the nitriding mechanism of the CF surface and the source of the substance introducing the nitrogen-containing functional group. The results show that under the synergistic action of organic solvent, organic nitrogen source and S-containing ammonium salt, the surface nitrogen content of CF increases from 0.28at% to 4.77at%. When there is an appropriate amount of water in the solution, the number of oxygen-containing functional groups is significantly increased. The reaction between the acidic oxygen-containing functional groups formed during oxidation, the amino group of urea, and the ammonium ions in the solution is the key to forming C-N bonds on the surface of CFs. As the reaction time prolongs, the nitrogen-containing functional groups on the surface of the CF gradually transform from amide nitrogen to nitrogen oxides, then to pyridine and pyrrole, and finally to the graphitized nitrogen. The interlayer shear strength（ILSS） of CF/epoxy composites after constant current electrochemical treatment is 132% higher than that of untreated, and the tensile strength of CF increased slightly. The results show that the organic composite electrolyte is a mild and effective solution for electrochemical treatment of CF surface.

Due to the extremely high surface inertness of the high modulus carbon fiber (HMCF), the matrix is unable to form well-wetted on HMCF surface, and the interface interaction is so weak that the load cannot be effectively transferred from the matrix to the fiber, tending to interlaminar delamination. This work explores a facile method for using Ti3C2Tx MXene nanosheets to enhance the interfacial properties of HMCF composites via electrophoretic deposition (EPD). The EPD process can control spatial uniformity in deposition density and the content of Ti3C2Tx MXene nanosheets on the surface of HMCF. The effects of deposition time on the microstructure of the HMCF surface and properties of the composites were systematically investigated. The results show that the introduction of Ti3C2Tx MXene nanosheets not only changes the surface morphology of HMCF, but also significantly improves the surface energy. These changes increased the interfacial shear strength (IFSS) and the interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) of the HMCF composites by 46.9 % and 49.9 %, respectively. Meanwhile, the EPD process did not damage the tensile strength of HMCF. Therefore, the EPD of Ti3C2Tx MXene nanosheets is a simple, highly replicable, and scalable method of improving the interfacial properties of HMCF composites, and has the potential for large-scale industrial application.