Surface Modification of Basalt Fibers by Nanostructured Silica Aerogel

Basalt fibers were surface modified by a new method using nanostructured porous silica aerogel via sol-gel process followed by ambient pressure drying method. FTIR, FE-SEM, and nitrogen adsorption analysis were used for characterization of silica aerogel particles which proved their mesoporous structure with pore size of 7 nm, high porosity and low density. FTIR spectra indicated the formation of silica aerogel on the basalt fibers surface. SEM analysis proved the surface modification of basalt fibers and quantitative measurement showed an increase of 2-fold in the surface roughness compared to unmodified surface fibers. A decrease of 42 % in the density of the surface modified basalt fibers was observed. Also, acoustical properties measurement showed that sound absorption coefficient was increased by 25 %. The obtained results show that silica aerogel structure can affect the physical properties of surface modified basalt fibers. Two silica aerogels with different density and porosity were used in this work.