Spinnability of Si(OC2H5)4-C2H5OH-H2O-HCl solutions

The spinnability of Si(OC2H5)4-C2H5OH-H2O-HCl solutions, for the preparation of silica fibers, as a function composition was studied. The spinnability was measured in terms of the maximum length of the drawn fibers and the time suitable for fiber drawing. It was shown that H2O and HCl in solutions greatly affect the spinnability of the solutions, and that the total amount of the solution also has an effect on the spinnability. According to our experimental results, the composition range (H2O/ Si(OC2H5)4:1.5–4.0; HCl/Si(OC2H5)4:0.0003-0.3) can be divided into six small ranges with different spinnability.