Corrosion behavior of basalt fibers modified by <i>in-situ</i> grown silicon nanowires in an acid environment under high-temperature and high-pressure

Abstract Silicon nanowires were grown in-situ on the surface of basalt fibers (BFs) by a solution method. The mechanical properties and corrosion behavior of BFs before and after modification by hydrochloric acid (HCl) solution at room temperature, high-temperature, and high-temperature, high-pressure conditions were studied. The results showed that a high-temperature and high-pressure accelerated the corrosion of BF in HCl solution. The growth of silicon nanowires on the BFs improved the corrosion resistance of the BFs without greatly affecting their mechanical properties. After corrosion for 1 h in HCl at a high temperature and high pressure, the strength retention ratio of silicon nanowires modified BFs (PSN–BF) was 54 %, while that of unmodified BFs was 45 %. Upon increasing the modification time, the water contact angle on BFs increased from 138° at 4 h to 155° at 8 h. The higher contact angle indicated the greater hydrophobicity of the modified BFs, which reduced contact between BFs and the corrosive medium and improved their corrosion resistance. In addition, hydrogen ions (H + ) did not displace Si atoms in the silicon nanowires, and the tight wrapping of silicon nanowires protected the BF surface by preventing the reactions of metallic elements with H + .