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Glass Fibers 2018
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Glass Fibers 2018

A special issue of Fibers (ISSN 2079-6439).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2018) | Viewed by 30686

Printed Edition Available!
A printed edition of this Special Issue is available here.

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Edith Maeder

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden, Hohe Straße 6, 01069 Dresden, Germany
Interests: interfaces; surface energy, work of adhesion, adhesion strength; micromechanical tests; interphases; characterization of interphases using microthermal analysis; interphase characterization using scanning force microscopy; interphase characterization using single fiber cyclic load test; micro-macro relations in composites; continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastics made from commingled yarns using different textile preforms, studies of structure-property relations, mechanical performance influenced by interphases; continuous surface modification during glass fiber spinning (sizing); reinforced thermoplastics by compounding, injection molding, long fiber reinforced thermoplastics; commingled yarns for continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastics; interphase design in fiber reinforced concrete; improving the aging behavior and enhancing the durability by interface modification (nanostructured sizing, polymer coatings)
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Christina Scheffler

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden e.V. (IPF), Hohe Strasse 6, 01069 Dresden, Germany
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Glass fibers are melt-spun, silica-based inorganic materials, and have been well known and comprehensively used for many years. Their main application is in glass fiber-reinforced composites, which accounts for more than 90% of all fiber-reinforced composites currently produced. Nevertheless, it is still challenging to improve fibers, interfaces and composites in key areas.

The objective of this Special Issue is to focus on actual research topics related to glass fibers comprising multifunctional nanostructured surfaces, which can lead from insulating to electrically conductive fibers and their interphases in composites are capable to uptake mechanical, chemical, humid, and thermal in situ sensing and photocatalytic functions. Glass fiber size includes lubricants, binders and/or coupling agents help to protect the filaments from failure during processing and cause the fibers to improve resin wetout and strengthening the adhesive bond at the fiber–matrix interface. The improvement of the compatibility of some size chemistries to the composites’ matrix is a key issue in resin wetout and adhesion strength.

Furthermore, the specific durability features of alkali-resistant glass fibers, acid-resistant special glass fibers, and basalt fibers are highlighted by the application of coatings. An inline spinning and comingling of glass filaments and polymeric filaments leads to easy-to-process continuous glass fiber-reinforced thermoplastic matrix composites. Finally, significant attention will be paid to recycling and re-use of glass fibers separated from composites at end-of-life.

Prof. Dr. Edith Maeder
Dr. Christina Scheffler
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Fibers is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • glass fibers
  • sizing
  • coating
  • multifunctionality
  • nanostructured surface
  • composites
  • interphase design
  • interphase characterization
  • durability
  • basalt fibers
  • inline commingling
  • recycling

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 4144 KiB  
Article
Temperature Dependent Strain/Damage Monitoring of Glass/Epoxy Composites with Graphene as a Piezoresistive Interphase
by Haroon Mahmood, Andrea Dorigato and Alessandro Pegoretti
Fibers 2019, 7(2), 17; https://doi.org/10.3390/fib7020017 - 21 Feb 2019
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 5371
Abstract
Graphene as an interphase not only improves the mechanical performance of fiber reinforced polymer composites but also induces functional properties like electrical conductivity, thus providing the possibility of strain monitoring in real time. At this aim, graphene oxide (GO) was electrophoretically deposited at [...] Read more.
Graphene as an interphase not only improves the mechanical performance of fiber reinforced polymer composites but also induces functional properties like electrical conductivity, thus providing the possibility of strain monitoring in real time. At this aim, graphene oxide (GO) was electrophoretically deposited at different applied potentials on glass fibers to create a uniform coating and was subsequently chemically reduced to obtain a conductive layer of reduced graphene oxide (rGO). After the optimization of the deposition process, composite laminates were prepared by hand lay-up with an epoxy resin, followed by curing in vacuum bag. The deposited rGO interphase improved the dynamic moduli (storage and loss modulus), the flexural strength (+23%), and interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) (+29%) of the composites. Moreover, laminates reinforced with rGO-coated glass fibers showed an electrical resistivity in the order of ~101 Ω·m, with a negative temperature coefficient. The piezoresistivity of the composites was monitored under flexural loading under isothermal conditions, and strain/damage monitoring was evaluated at different temperatures through the change of the electrical resistance with the applied strain. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Glass Fibers 2018)
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20 pages, 6583 KiB  
Article
Investigation of Chemical and Physical Surface Changes of Thermally Conditioned Glass Fibres
by Peter G Jenkins, Liu Yang, James L Thomason, Xinyong Chen, John F Watts and Steven J Hinder
Fibers 2019, 7(1), 7; https://doi.org/10.3390/fib7010007 - 15 Jan 2019
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 5516
Abstract
A number of analytical techniques were applied to investigate changes to the surface of unsized boron-free E-glass fibres after thermal conditioning at temperatures up to 700 °C. Novel systematic studies were carried out to investigate the fundamental strength loss from thermal conditioning. Surface [...] Read more.
A number of analytical techniques were applied to investigate changes to the surface of unsized boron-free E-glass fibres after thermal conditioning at temperatures up to 700 °C. Novel systematic studies were carried out to investigate the fundamental strength loss from thermal conditioning. Surface chemical changes studied using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) showed a consistent increase in the surface concentration of calcium with increasing conditioning temperature, although this did not correlate well with a loss of fibre strength. Scanning electron microscopy fractography confirmed the difficulty of analysing failure-inducing flaws on individual fibre fracture surfaces. Analysis by atomic force microscopy (AFM) did not reveal any likely surface cracks or flaws of significant dimensions to cause failure: the observation of cracks before fibre fracture may not be possible when using this technique. Fibre surface roughness increased over the whole range of the conditioning temperatures investigated. Although surface roughness did not correlate precisely with fibre strength, there was a clear inverse relationship at temperatures exceeding 400 °C. The interpretation of the surface topography that formed between 400–700 °C produced evidence that the initial stage of phase separation by spinodal decomposition may have occurred at the fibre surface. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Glass Fibers 2018)
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25 pages, 5935 KiB  
Article
Chitosan as a Coupling Agent for Phosphate Glass Fibre/Polycaprolactone Composites
by Chao Tan, Chris Rudd, Andrew Parsons, Nusrat Sharmin, Junxiao Zhang, Wanru Chen and Ifty Ahmed
Fibers 2018, 6(4), 97; https://doi.org/10.3390/fib6040097 - 10 Dec 2018
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 6854
Abstract
This study shows that chitosan (CS) could be highly useful as a coupling agent in phosphate glass fibre/polycaprolactone (PGF/PCL) composites, as it improved the interfacial shear strength by up to 78%. PGFs of the composition 45P2O5–5B2O3 [...] Read more.
This study shows that chitosan (CS) could be highly useful as a coupling agent in phosphate glass fibre/polycaprolactone (PGF/PCL) composites, as it improved the interfacial shear strength by up to 78%. PGFs of the composition 45P2O5–5B2O3–5Na2O–24CaO–10MgO–11Fe2O3 were dip-coated with CS (with a degree of deacetylation >80%) dissolved in acetic acid solution (2% v/v). Different CS concentrations (3–9 g L−1) and coating processes were investigated. Tensile and fragmentation tests were conducted to obtain the mechanical properties of the single fibres and interfacial properties of the PGF/PCL composites, respectively. It was observed that post-cleaning, the treated fibres had their tensile strength reduced by around 20%; however, the CS-coated fibres experienced strength increases of up to 1.1–11.5%. TGA and SEM analyses were used to confirm the presence of CS on the fibre surface. FTIR, Raman, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses further confirmed the presence of CS and indicated the protonation of CS amine groups. Moreover, the nitrogen spectrum of XPS demonstrated a minimum threshold of CS coating required to provide an improved interface. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Glass Fibers 2018)
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18 pages, 5343 KiB  
Article
Further Progress in Functional Interlayers with Controlled Mechanical Properties Designed for Glass Fiber/Polyester Composites
by Antonin Knob, Jaroslav Lukes, Lawrence Thadeus Drzal and Vladimir Cech
Fibers 2018, 6(3), 58; https://doi.org/10.3390/fib6030058 - 16 Aug 2018
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 5688
Abstract
Compatible interlayers must be coated on reinforcing fibers to ensure effective stress transfer from the polymer matrix to the fiber in high-performance polymer composites. The mechanical properties of the interlayer, and its interfacial adhesion on both interfaces with the fiber and polymer matrix [...] Read more.
Compatible interlayers must be coated on reinforcing fibers to ensure effective stress transfer from the polymer matrix to the fiber in high-performance polymer composites. The mechanical properties of the interlayer, and its interfacial adhesion on both interfaces with the fiber and polymer matrix are among the key parameters that control the performance of polymer composite through the interphase region. Plasma-synthesized interlayers, in the form of variable materials from polymer-like to glass-like films with a Young’s modulus of 10–52 GPa, were deposited on unsized glass fibers used as reinforcements in glass fiber/polyester composites. Modulus Mapping (dynamic nanoindentation testing) was successfully used to examine the mechanical properties across the interphase region on cross-sections of the model composite in order to distinguish the fiber, the interlayer, and the modified and bulk polymer matrix. The interfacial shear strength for plasma-coated fibers in glass fiber/polyester composites, determined from the microindentation test, was up to 36% higher than those of commercially sized fibers. The effects of fiber pretreatment, single and double interlayers, and post-treatment of the interlayer on interfacial shear strength were also discussed. Functional interlayers with high shear yield strength and controlled physicochemical properties are promising for high-performance polymer composites with a controlled interphase. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Glass Fibers 2018)
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12 pages, 4221 KiB  
Article
Investigation of Transcrystalline Interphases in Polypropylene/Glass Fiber Composites Using Micromechanical Tests
by Hanna Brodowsky and Edith Mäder
Fibers 2018, 6(1), 16; https://doi.org/10.3390/fib6010016 - 12 Mar 2018
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 6203
Abstract
In composites, a strong interphase between the components is essential for mechanical properties. By using a suitable sizing (i.e., surface modification) of the fiber, the interphase may be varied, e.g., by suppressing or promoting heterogeneous nucleation of a thermoplastic matrix. In the latter [...] Read more.
In composites, a strong interphase between the components is essential for mechanical properties. By using a suitable sizing (i.e., surface modification) of the fiber, the interphase may be varied, e.g., by suppressing or promoting heterogeneous nucleation of a thermoplastic matrix. In the latter case, three-dimensional transcrystallized interphases with properties differing from those of the bulk matrix are formed. Polypropylene-glass fiber composites are prepared as single-fiber model composites with (a) sizings either inducing or suppressing a transcrystalline interphase, (b) different amounts of modifier maleic acid anhydride grafted polypropylene, and (c) different molecular weights of the matrix polymer. These are studied in quasi-static or cyclic load tests. Static tests permit insights in the interfacial characteristics such as critical interface energy release rate, adhesion strength and frictional stress. Cyclic tests on these model composites can be used to study the nature of dissipative processes and the damage behavior. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) investigations of the fiber fracture surfaces provide supplementary information. The transcrystalline layer can indeed improve the mechanical parameters (a 70–100% increase of strength and a 25 or 125% increase in toughness, depending on the molecular weight (MW) of the matrix polymer at low modifier concentration). However, the effect is partially neutralized by an opposing effect: high nucleation in the bulk in samples with commonly used concentrations of modifier. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Glass Fibers 2018)
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