Spinnability and crystallizability of silica glass fiber by the sol-gel method

In this paper, the authors report an investigation into the effects of the addition of amounts of H2O and HCl on the spinnability and crystallizabilit y of silica glass fiber by the sol-gel method. The spinnability of TEOS sol was dependent on the structure: characteristics, which were controlled by the amount of H2O and HCl. If a lineal structure (Si-O-Si) dominated in the sol. the sol exhibited excellent spinnability. The crystallizability was d etermined by structure characteristics of the Si-O-Si and the content of br oken bond. It was easy to crystallize the SiO2 glass fibers with a three-di mensional network structure and a low content of broken bonds. The optimum amount of H2O and HCl with excellent spinnability and poor crystallizabilit y was 1.5 and 0.03 mol ratio, respectively. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.