Formation and application of hierarchical calcium silicate-calcium sulfate whiskers

Publication date: 15 May 2018
Source:Materials & Design, Volume 146
Author(s): Yu-rong Yang, Qing-jie Zhang, Wei Cai, Mei-gui Yi, Lan Xiang
A facile method was designed for synthesizing hierarchical calcium silicate-calcium sulfate whiskers (H-CSW) via treatment of the calcium sulfate whiskers (CSW) in sodium silicate solution. Calcium silicate nanoparticles with a size of 70–100nm were uniformly anchored on H-CSW surfaces and the specific surface areas of the whiskers increased from 6.0m²·g⁻¹ to 29.1m²·g⁻¹. The addition of 2.0wt% of H-CSW in epoxy composite led to the increase of 10% in flexural strength, 16% in flexural modulus, 18% in storage modulus (30°C) and 8°C in glass transition temperature owing to the enhanced mechanical interlocking among H-CSW and the epoxy matrix.

Graphical abstract

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