To improve the mechanical properties of carbon-bonded carbon fiber (CBCF) composites, they are firstly fabricated by chemical vapor deposited (CVD) pyrolytic carbon (PyC) coating layer on the carbon fiber surface, and then modified by zirconium boride (ZrB2) using three cycles of precursor infiltration and pyrolysis (PIP) process. The effects of different PyC interface thickness on the microstructure and mechanical properties of ZrB2 modified PyC coated CBCF (PyC CBCF/ZrB2) composites were studied and characterized. As the PyC thickness increased from 0.5 to 3.6 mu m, the flexural properties of PyC CBCF/ZrB2 composites are noticeably enhanced in x/y and z direction, respectively. Mechanical enhancements for PyC-CBCF/ZrB2 composites are mainly attributed to the effective interface bonding between carbon fiber and PyC, crack deflection and branching within the laminar PyC layer and carbon fiber pullout from PyC interface coating. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Financial support was provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project Nos. 51272056 and 11272313) and the National Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (No: 51525201).