the electrodeposition of saturated copolymers onto carbon fibers is investigated, focusing particular attention on improvement of shear and impact properties of the corresponding composites carbon fibers are electrocoated with poly(ethylene-co-acrylic acid) and poly(methyl vinyl ether-co-maleic anhydride) from aqueous media, and fabricated into epoxy composites. the results of interlaminar shear strength (ilss) tests, initially employed to assess fiber-matrix adhesion, are vitiated by the occurrence of mixed-mode failure. interfacial shear strength (ifss) is hence evaluated by stressing single-fiber composite specimens to obtain ultimate aspect ratios of the fiber fragments. the data are combined with fiber strengths by a recently developed statistical theory (1) to yield a distribution for ifss. both copolymer interphases improve fiber-matrix bonding to an extent greater even than that obtained with commercial fiber surface treatment. (edited author abstract) 19 refs