Title: Preparation and application of sol-gel polishing tool with carbon fibres as skeleton

Authors: Zhiping Xue; Jing Lu; Lei Yang; Hui Huang

Addresses: Institute of Manufacturing Engineering, Huaqiao University, Xiamen 361021, China; National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Intelligent Manufacturing Technology of Brittle Material Products, Xiamen, 361021, China ' Institute of Manufacturing Engineering, Huaqiao University, Xiamen 361021, China; National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Intelligent Manufacturing Technology of Brittle Material Products, Xiamen, 361021, China ' Institute of Manufacturing Engineering, Huaqiao University, Xiamen 361021, China; National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Intelligent Manufacturing Technology of Brittle Material Products, Xiamen, 361021, China ' Institute of Manufacturing Engineering, Huaqiao University, Xiamen 361021, China; National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Intelligent Manufacturing Technology of Brittle Material Products, Xiamen, 361021, China

Abstract: A newly developed sol-gel (SG) polishing tool is fabricated for the green processing of hard and brittle materials. The new polishing tool uses carbon fibres as a skeleton and can achieve semi-consolidated flexible polishing of multi-layer abrasives. Through the investigation of the impact of varying carbon fibre content and different drying techniques on the SG polishing tool, it was observed that a carbon fibre content of 30% combined with hot air drying resulted in minimal volume shrinkage, excellent compression resistance, and overall superior performance of the tool. Compared to traditional SG polishing pads, the durability of the new SG polishing tool is significantly improved, effectively addressing the issue of surface damage during the polishing process. Experimental studies on marble surfaces demonstrate that using the new SG polishing tools remarkable reduction in surface roughness by 98.6% and an impressive enhancement in glossiness by 326.7%.

Keywords: sol-gel; carbon fibre; marble; polishing tool.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSURFSE.2024.142236

International Journal of Surface Science and Engineering, 2024 Vol.18 No.4, pp.287 - 303

Received: 01 Dec 2023
Accepted: 15 Mar 2024
Published online: 15 Oct 2024 *

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