Structural, chemical and mechanical properties of phosphate glass fibers

Phosphate glasses with the compositions of (53-x)P 2 O 5 -11K 2 O-25CaO-11MgO-X; (X: ZnO, CoO, Fe 2 O 3 ) were prepared and subsequently transformed into fibers by a monofilament extruder. The compositions and amorphous nature of the glasses were confirmed by XRD, Raman and infrared spectroscopies. The SEM shows that the elaborated fibers at a spinning speed of 500 m/min have a diameter of 17 μm. The degradation study in aqueous solution at 37 °C showed a decrease of 99% in degradation rate with the addition of ZnO, CoO and Fe 2 O 3 elements. This confirmed that the chemical durability of the glasses had increased. DSC showed an increase in T g values by addition ZnO, CoO and Fe 2 O 3 contents. The tensile properties show that the phosphate glass fibers have good mechanical properties, the highest tensile strength obtained is 1321 ± 50 MPa. The density measured revealed an increase from 2.54 to 2.7 g.cm −3 .