New ceramic fiber technology

The University of Warwick in the United Kingdom announced in May 2003 that the United Kingdom has successfully developed a new process for producing ceramic fibers. The new process not only improves the performance of ceramic fibers, but also effectively avoids the production of superfine fibers that are harmful to health during processing.
Ceramic fibers have both strong hardness and elasticity, as well as good thermal insulation properties. Therefore, it has been widely used in recent years for manufacturing high-temperature furnace walls and light components for automobiles or airplanes. However, some studies have also found that some superfine fibers produced during the manufacture of ceramic fibers are likely to cause harm to human health. Some European countries have classified ceramic fibers with a diameter of less than 1 micron as carcinogens. It is also considered medically that if the diameter of the ceramic fiber is less than 3 μm, it can easily be inhaled into the human lungs and pose a potential hazard.
The processing technology group of the University of Warwick in the UK has found through research that the use of a sol-gel blow spinning technology can effectively control the fineness of the produced ceramic fibers and completely eliminate the generation of excessive fibers in the manufacturing process. Using this technique, the researchers successfully produced ceramic fibers with a fineness of not less than 3 μm.
The researchers also found that if the spinning sol formation process is precisely controlled in the sol-gel blow spinning process, the produced ceramic fiber will not only have magnetic, piezoelectric, and electrical conductivity, but also high-temperature fire resistance. Up to ordinary ceramics level.