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 crystallizability 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 linear structure (Si-O-Si) dominated in the sol, the sol exhibited excellent spinnability. The crystallizability was determined by structure characteristics of the Si-O-Si and the content of broken bond. It was easy to crystallize the SiO₂ glass fibers with a three-dimensional network structure and a low content of broken bonds. The optimum amount of H₂O and HCl with excellent spinnability and poor crystallizability was 1.5 and 0.03 mol ratio, respectively.