Basaltic glass fibers with advanced mechanical properties

In the present research the dependence of compositional variations on the basaltic glass fibers mechanical properties was explored. Addition of 15 mol % MgO or 5 mol % ZnO led to enhanced for tensile strength up to 43% and 47% and for modulus up to 13% and 25% respectively. The structure of basaltic glass fibers with varying MgO and ZnO contents was investigated by solid-state 29Si and 27Al nuclear magnetic resonance with magic angle spinning (MAS-NMR) and infrared (IR) spectroscopy. It was indicated that the increase of MgO and ZnO contents slightly decreased the degree of network polymerization. 27Al MAS NMR exhibit a peak consistent with tetrahedral aluminum units AlO4. The noticeable fraction peaks of narrow octahedral aluminum units AlO6 are observed. Presence of aluminum cations in coordination 4 and 6 was confirmed by IR spectroscopy. In order to study their crystallization ability the glasses were heated at various temperatures for various time periods with following self-cooling. The crystalline phases were identified by X-ray diffraction analysis. Obtained results have shown the possibility to increase mechanical properties of continuous fibers and composites on their base by 50-60%.