Characterization of hollow chemical garden fibers from metal salts and water glass

Hollow fibers formed from water glass and metal salts of IIA(Ca), VIIB(Fe, Co, Ni) and IB(Cu) groups were characterised in this study. Fragile fibres obtained herein broke down into small pieces during isolation and drying. Quantitative information about morphology, chemical composition and surface structure of the fibres were obtained. The diameter and wall thickness of the fibers were around 50 mu and 3 mu. respectively. They had particulate inner and smooth outer surfaces. Fibers had variable composition with metal (II) oxide/SiO2 ratio in the range 0.31 to 1.02. While group VIIB metal (II) fibres were amorphous, group IIA and IB metal (II) fibres were partially crystalline All the fibres had pores both in micro pore and meso pore region. The B.E.T surface area from N-2 adsorption data was in the range of 10-249 m(3) g(-1) and 8-176 m(2) g(-1) from Langmuir and B.E.T models respectively.