Influence of time and temperature of hydrothermal treatment on glass fibers surface

Leaching appears to be a suitable method of obtaining a high hydroxyl popul ation at the surface of borosilicate fibers. Several procedures were invest igated and the treated fibers have been characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (silanol band), and elemental analysis (carbon conten t) after trimethylsilylation. The texture of leached fibers was examined by scanning electron microscopy and the result was compared to that of origin al fibers. The modified fibers which exhibited the highest hydroxyl populat ion with minimum alteration of the texture, as could be seen by scanning el ectron microscopy, were characterized by using nitrogen, krypton and water adsorption techniques in order to get information on surface area and poros ity. The procedure revealed textural modifications: the surface area was in creased and a micropore volume was formed. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. A ll rights reserved.