Evaluation of thermal protective performance of basalt fiber nonwoven fabrics

Thermal insulation and fire protection have been a point of interest and discussion for several decades. Due to its excellent performances, basalt fiber has been widely used in the fields of thermal insulation and fire protection. The morphological structure and thermal stability of continuous basalt fiber were analysed using CH-2 projection microscope, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and thermogravimetry (TG). In order to evaluate the thermal radiation protective performance when exposed to fire environment, the spectral reflectances of nonwoven fabrics with different thicknesses were evaluated by ultraviolet-visible-near infrared (UV–Vis–NIR) spectrophotometer analysis. The jointly analysis of TG and UV–Vis–NIR spectrophotometer revealed that the basalt fiber exhibits good thermal stability, and the nonwoven fabrics present excellent thermal protective performance.