Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been widely used as mechanical reinforcement agents of composites.
However, their aggregations, weak interfacial interaction with polymer, as well as high electrical conduc-tivity limit their use in some especial applications. In this paper, the silicon oxide (SiO 2 )-coated (CNT@SiO 2 ) core–shell hybrids with different SiO 2 thickness were prepared and employed to reinforce glass fibre-reinforced bismaleimide–triazine (BT) resin (GFRBT) composites. The results indicated the mechanical properties, including tensile strength and Young’s modulus increased with the increase of SiO 2 thickness and CNT@SiO 2 loading. Such enhanced mechanical properties were mainly attributed to the intrinsically nature of CNTs, homogeneous dispersion of the hybrids, as well as improved interfacial
interaction. Meanwhile, the composites remained high electrical insulation (9.63 10 12X cm) due to the existence of SiO 2 layer on CNT surface. This study will guide the design of functionalized CNTs and the construction of high-performance composites.