Enhanced mechanical toughness of carbon nanofibrous‐coated surface modified Kevlar reinforced polyurethane/epoxy matrix hybrid composites

High‐performance Kevlar fiber had extensively been explored to upgraded mechanical properties of the advanced composites. Therefore, this study aimed a challenging work to grow carbon nanofibers onto the Kevlar fiber to improve its fiber‐matrix interaction properties. It was successfully done through inexpensive flame deposition as well as modification of matrix with hybrid resin using polyurethane‐epoxy mixture. A hand‐layup method had been adopted to manufacture the composite laminates. The chemical and surface structures of the prepared laminae were examined by scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction, and the composite's properties were evaluated tensile test, compact tension (CT) fracture test, fractography, and differential scanning calorimetry. The surface modified Kevlar laminae with CNF were used as reinforcing layer in the epoxy and PU/epoxy hybrid resin matrices. CNF‐coated heated Kevlar reinforced laminated PU/epoxy hybrid composites (CNF‐Kev/PU‐Epoxy) showed highest elongation 47% and fracture toughness (11.7 MPa√m) along with good UTS 139 MPa. Therefore, these hybrid nanocomposites developed by simple inexpensive method would be the potential candidates for several advanced applications particularly in defense, automobile, aerospace, and spacecraft applications.