Preparation and study of quartz yarn with good permeability by controlling the content of polar components in wetting agent

Abstract

Quartz yarn was widely used in glass fiber reinforced composites, while the defect derived from the poor permeability of resin solution in quartz yarn restricted its application. Although the permeability was widely studied and several test methods were proposed, the effect of the components of wetting agent on permeability was seldom reported, and an accurate method to characterized the permeability of fiber bundle needed to be explored. In this study, a new type of wetting agent was prepared to produce quartz yarn with high permeability by controlling the chemical components of the wetting agent, and the effects of them on permeability, wetting ability, bunching property, and mechanism were discussed, and a relatively accurate permeability method was proposed. The results showed the chemical components played a key role in affecting the permeability of quartz yarn. The wetting agent with low content of polar components (COP) and low content of solid content (COS) exhibited high permeability for quartz yarn, possessing better properties than commercial yarns. When the COP was high, the precipitated coupling agent lamellae on the surface of the yarn reduced the gap between the yarn fibers, resulting in a larger adhesive attachment rate and bunching property of the yarns. The mechanism of the action from the wetting agent components was analyzed by the FTIR spectrum, indicating that the COS and COP affected the fluidity and permeability of the resin between fibers. The study revealed the mechanism of chemical components of wetting on the permeability of quartz yarn and proposed a method to test the permeability of resin solution in quartz yarn. The results of this study provided experimental data and reference basis for the development of functional wetting agent.