| abstract |
Individual glass fibers are coated with a combined sizing and coating composition that includes furfuryl alcohol as a constituent. The preferred combined sizing and coating composition comprises an aqueous mixture including furfuryl alcohol, ammonia, an elastomeric latex selected from natural and synthetic rubber latices such as neoprene, isoprene, butyl rubber, butadiene-styrene copolymers, acrylonitrilebutadienestyrene terpolymers, styrene-butadiene-vinylpyridine terpolymers, and the like, an aminosilane coupling agent such as gammaaminopropyltriethoxysilane, and a resorcinol-formaldehyde resin. An aqueous solution of the combined sizing and coating composition is prepared and the individual glass fibers are coated shortly after attenuation with this combined sizing and coating composition. The coated individual glass fibers are thereafter gathered into strands and the strands are dried while spaced from each other. The dried strands are thereafter collected on a forming tube and are used as a glass fiber reinforcement for elastomeric products. The furfuryl alcohol may also be used as a constituent in a sizing composition that inclues a coupling agent and also, in a coating composition, for use with glass fibers that have been previously coated with a separate sizing composition. |