Abstract:Carbon fibers coated with copper are widely utilized in many fields because of their special properties. In this study, carbon fibers were pretreated in both air at high temperature and HNO3 solution, and the surface change of the fibers was detected by X-ray photoelectron spectroscope (XPS). A simple electroplating technique in a sulfate bath was used. Through changing the concentrations of H2SO4 and CuSO4 and adding additive agents of 2-mecaptobenzimidazole, ethylene thiourea, 3,3-Dithiobis-1-propanesulfonic acid disodium salt, etc., uniform and smooth copper coating was obtained on carbon fibers. And the effects of H2SO4 and the additive agents on the copper coating features were examined. The copper coating was characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results indicates that uniform and smooth copper coating could be obtained in the solution of CuSO4 60 g/L, H2SO4 180 g/L and addition of additive agents.