High Performance Basalt Fiber: Fundamentals and Applications (Woodhead Publishing Series in Composites Science and Engineering)

Basalt fiber possesses many superior properties, such as excellent mechanical properties, high resistance to the chemical, temperature and environmental attacks, and outstanding electrical and sound insulation. In addition, it is cost-effective and environmentally friendly because the raw materials are widely found in nature and the fiber can be discarded into the environment without any negative effect. Basalt fiber has attracted great attention as reinforcement for composites in recent years, and developed materials have been extensively used in transportation, automobile, aerospace, and civil engineering.Despite its many attractive attributes, and the contributions of basalt fiber, there are still numerous challenges to be addressed in terms of preparation, properties, and application. In addition, some of the merits of this high-performance fiber reported in the literature are usually inconsistent and incomplete, where intuition often prevails over rationality.High Performance Basalt Fiber: Fundamentals and Applications provides a comprehensive and systematic review of the latest developments in this important research field. It offers a complete and thorough analysis of the correlation between the structure and properties of basalt fiber, as well as key methods and technologies for the preparation and application of this fiber and it related composites. There is also a detailed overview of the history of basalt fiber, as well functionalization and recent state-of-art progress on basalt fiber and its corresponding composites. The book will thus fill a gap in the field, in terms of not only covering the theory but more importantly the latest technologies.

• Covers key challenges that need to be addressed in terms of preparation, properties, and application of basalt fiber and basalt fiber reinforced composites
• Illustrates the factors affecting the mechanical properties of basalt fibers to obtain high-performance
• Covers the preparation technology of basalt fiber, and the relationship between its structure and properties
• Looks at different fiber surface treatment technologies, as well as application of basalt fiber-reinforced composites and their products
• Covers fundamental aspects to real applications

Professor Peng-Cheng Ma graduated with a BSc in Chemistry and MSc in Polymer Chemistry and Physics, both from Lanzhou University, China. He obtained a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. From 2010 to 2012, he was supported by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and worked in the Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden in Germany. Professor Ma joined the Xinjiang Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (XTIPC-CAS) in 2012. Currently, he holds a professorship under the CAS Core Researcher Program. Professor Ma’s research is concentrated on polymer composites/nanocomposites, and fiber science and technology. He has authored one monograph (Carbon Nanotubes for Polymer Reinforcement, CRC Press, 2011), 2 book chapters and has published more than 80 papers in the broad field of composite science and technology.

Professor Ma and his group have made significant achievements in the field of basalt fiber and their corresponding composites, including: 1) Establishment of a database on basalt fiber produced in China; 2) Development of conducting basalt fiber using nanoscience and nanotechnology; 3) Formulation of sizing used for basalt fiber and composites to enhance the overall performance of FRP structure; 4) Verification on the concept of using lunar soil to prepare continuous fiber for the construction of lunar base. The expertise of Professor Ma was highly acknowledged by the international community when he was elected as a Council Member of The International Society of Basalt Fibers and Composites (ISBFC) in 2021. Besides fundamental research, Professor Ma is enthusiastic in transferring knowledge to technology for various applications. He is a holder of 14 Chinese patents, and 8 of them have been transferred/licensed to the industry.

Dr. Xing graduated with a BSc in Metallurgical Engineering and MSc in Metallurgical Physics and Chemistry, both from Lanzhou University of Technology, in China. She received her PhD degree in Materials Physics and Chemistry from the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Since 2020, she has been a postdoctoral fellow at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, China. Her main research interests include high-performance fibers, and fiber-reinforced composites and their applications. She was the driving force behind the establishment of the Big Data database on Basalt Fiber that was produced in China, which offers scientists and manufacturers a useful tool for the preparation and application of high-performance basalt fiber. Based on the results in the database, she studied the factors governing the mechanical properties of basalt fiber and prepared a series of functional basalt fibers. Her elegance in basalt fiber has resulted in the publication of 10 papers in international journals and 7 Chinese patents.