Glass fibres surface treatment

Jones FR (1994) Glass fibres-surface treatments. In Jones FR (ed) Handbook of polymer-fibre composites. Longman, Harlow, p42... 

Fibre-matrix adhesion - glass fibres F R JONES Types of fibre surface treatment... 

The glass fibre, PPG 3540, is a polyurethane-sized glass fibre manufactured by PPG Industries, Inc. The surface treatment on the glass fibre promotes good adhesion between the fibre and the polymer. b Note montmorillonite is surface treated with octadecylammonium or dioctadecyldimethylammo-nium ions. 

While organo-silane treatments are extensively used in both thermoset and elastomer applications, their use in thermoplastics has so far been somewhat restricted. This is because they do not react with the surface of calcium carbonate, one of the principal fillers used in this type of polymer and because of the lack of a suitable reactive functionality for most of the thermoplastic polymers. Today they are principally used in conjunction with glass fibres, calcined clays, aluminium and magnesium hydroxides, micas and wollastonite. The main thermo-... 

Surface treatments are almost invariably added during the manufacture of glass fibres and play an important role in determining their processing and reinforcing characteristics. 

Plastic composites such as glass- or carbon-fibre reinforced materials are often based on polar epoxy or polyester resins, and are therefore compatible with the common adhesives as well as being readily bondable. Surface treatment is required simply to remove contaminants such as oils, dirt, and especially fluorocarbon mould release agents. The two main techniques used to achieve this are ... 

As with glass, a range of cloth constructions is available. Further details of the fibres and their surface treatment are discussed under Fibre-matrix adhesion - carbon fibres. 

Additional surface treatments, using graphite as a base, are also applied where the dust stream may contain incandescent particles leading to pinholes (often found in the asphalt industry) or a mixture of silicone and graphite, as in the case of glass filter media, to reduce fibre-fibre friction. Still further treatments have been developed to counter specific problems arising from dusts such as those found in the ferrous or alumina industries. 

Impact strength and flexural modulus are the mechanical properties that can most be improved by careful selection of mineral flllers, and the shape of the particle is important. Fibre-like wollastonite particularly improves the flexural modulus while cube-shaped calcium carbonate can improve both impact strength and modulus. Talc offers many options because it is capable of many different modiflcations and surface treatments. The high aspect ratio of glass fibres means that they can provide the greatest improvement in mechanical properties. 

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