Chemical interactions between glass fibres and cement

The rate of removal of ions from a zircono-silicate glass fibre by aqueous extracts of Portland cement has been experimentally determined. To accelerate the reaction, digestions have been carried out at elevated temperatures. The reaction rate for the glass composition investigated favours a log-time dependence. The reacted fibres show a relative enrichment of Zr on the surface, although no definite zirconia-containing phase has been identified. Soda-lime and borosilicate glass fibres which have been similarly examined for comparison purposes, required considerably shorter periods of digestion to produce suitable concentrations of glass breakdown products. The reaction rate for soda-lime glass appears to be largely controlled by Na⁺ diffusion. With borosilicate glass, no simple interpretation can be applied to the breakdown mechanism because of the complex nature of the reaction products. The significance of these results in the interpretation of the durability of zircono-silicate glass fibre cement composites is discussed.