Quartz fiber is afiber created from high-purityquartz crystals.[1][2] It is made by first softening quartz rods (in anoxyhydrogen flame)[3] and then creating filaments from the rods.[4] Since the creation of high-purity quartz crystals is an energy intensive process, quartz fiber is more expensive than alternatives (glass fiber and high-silica fiber) and has limited applications.[3]
Quartz fiber is made from heating quartz rods with an oxyhydrogen flame. Then, filaments are drawn out of the quartz rod, creating quartz fibers.[5] For optical fibers,germanium andphosphorus can be added to increase therefractive index.[6][7]
A single quartz fiber can have atensile strength of 5.5gigapascals (800 ksi). Quartz fibers are chemically stable as they are not affected byhalogens (for the most part). Quartz fibers also have a higher thermal resistance thanS-glass orE-glass.[8]
Since quartz fiber is expensive, it has limited applications.[2] It is used mainly for producingcomposite materials (due to having higher stability compared toglass fiber) and in electrical applications wherethermal resistance anddielectric properties are important.[9] It can be used in filtration applications where alternatives such as glass fiber filters cannot be used.[3][10] Quartz fiber can also be used for physical devices (such as inquartz fiber dosimeters and quartz fiber electrometers).[11]
Quartz fibers can be used in fiber optics. This is due to a quartz fiber having the ability to transportdata at a speed of 1terabit per second,[12][13] and having atransmission loss of 1decibel per kilometer.[14]
Similar to howfiberglass can be made, quartz fiber can be used to make composite materials by combining with a resin. The fiber can be weaved into a cloth ("quartz cloth", "silica cloth"), or chopped to a uniform length.[15]Three-dimensional quartz phenolic is an example of such a material.
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