To improve the interfacial adhesion of PBO/PPESK composite, thermoplastic resins were coated onto the fiber surface after plasma pretreatment. Two coating resins applied in this study were chemically linked with the plasma pretreated fibers, which was confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The fiber surface morphologies and wettability were analyzed by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and dynamic contact angle analysis, respectively. The interfacial adhesion performance of the PBO fiber-reinforced PPESK composite was measured by interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) and water absorption tests. Fracture mechanisms of the composites were examined by SEM. The results indicated that after coating the surface wettability was improved and the ILSS had an increment of 80.8% for phenolphthalein poly (ether ketone) coating and 30.3% for phenolphthalein poly (ether sulfone) coating. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.