Surface evolution of aluminosilicate glass fibers during dissolution: influence of pH, solid-to-solution ratio and organic treatment

Materials made of synthetic vitreous mineral fibers, such as stone wool, are widely used in construction, in functional composites and as thermal and acoustic insulation. Chemical stability is an important parameter in assessing long term durability of the products. Stability is determined by fiber resistivity to dissolution, where the controlling parameters are solid surface area to solution volume ratio (S/V), pH and composition of the fibers and organic compounds used as binders. We investigated stone wool dissolution under flow through conditions, far from equilibrium, at pH range of 2 to 13, as well as under batch conditions, close to equilibrium, for up to 28 days, where S/V ranged from 100 to 10000 m⁻¹. The dissolution rate of stone wool shows minimum at pH 8.5 and increases significantly at pH < 4.5 and pH > 12. In close to equilibrium conditions, S/V defines the steady state concentration for the leached components. Decreased dissolution rate could result from evolution of a surface leached layer or the formation of secondary surface phases or both. We suggested three dissolution rate controlling mechanisms, which depend on pH. That is, dissolution is controlled by: a SiO₂ rich surface layer at pH < 4.5; by adsorption of an Al and Al-Si mixed surface layer at 5 < pH < 11 and by divalent cation adsorption and formation of secondary phases (silicates, hydroxides) at pH ∼ 13. The organic compounds, used to treat the stone wool fibers during manufacture, had no influence on their dissolution properties.