High-performance continuous carbon fiber composite filament via solution process

Carbon fibers and their composites are attractive materials owing to their excellent mechanical properties, lightweight nature, and high corrosion and high fatigue resistances. The three-dimensional (3D) printing is a promising commercial technology because it reduces the high processing cost of carbon fiber-reinforced plastics. In this study, high-performance filament composites comprising continuous carbon fibers and nylon matrix materials were investigated. A rapid and continuous manufacturing process was designed after determining the high impregnation condition based on a hydrodynamic analysis of a nylon solution. After performing a one-step solution process on the filament composites, individual fibers were uniformly distributed in the filament, obtaining a high packing density exceeding 90%. Surprisingly, the fabricated composite filament comprising continuous carbon fibers and nylon matrices outperformed the pristine carbon fiber tow in terms of tensile strength. Microimages and tensile test were investigated to further study the microstructure and mechanical behavior of the fabricated composite filament.