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Since the outbreak of COVID-19, mask-wearing has become a widespread phenomenon. Even after the pandemic, people continue to maintain the habit of wearing masks in their daily lives. While existing research has explored how mask-wearing can influence wearers' behavior in everyday life, its effects in the workplace have received less attention. Drawing on self-perception theory, this study examined the positive effect of mask-wearing in the workplace on wearers' voice behavior via psychological safety. An online experiment (N = 291) using a within-subject manipulation of wearing masks supported our hypotheses. This study uncovered the positive psychological and behavioral consequences of mask-wearing beyond its benefits in people's health conditions and everyday life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving the interfacial bonding properties of basalt fiber-reinforced polymer (BFRP) to enhance the overall performance, keeping the existing technological flowsheet, meanwhile, fulfilling the product variety needs with a simple process are of great importance for both basalt fiber (BF) producer and its industry. In this study, polyurethane was coated as a coupling agent on the surface of BF to improve the bonding properties of BFRP interfaces, and the surface coating treatment process was also investigated. The results indicated that polyurethane treatment helped to enhance both the interfacial shear stress and the tensile properties of the BFRP; moreover, the treating process was particularly important, with the most significant improvement brought about by directly coating the surface of the original BF. SEM observation results illustrated that all samples treated with polyurethane had good interfacial adhesion between the fibers and polymeric matrix. In addition, chemical structural analysis of the BF surface based on FTIR and XPS results showed that polyurethane coating treatment could bring lots of polar functional groups to the fiber surface, especially the ones performed directly on the original BFs. Combining the experimental results and the interfacial functionary mechanisms, a discussion of the reinforcing mechanisms found that the introduction of polyurethane resulted in a mix of interfacial functionary mechanisms. In general, this work demonstrated that the approach of applying polyurethane directly on the original BF was a novel and facile concept and fulfilled the demands of both BF producers and downstream manufacturers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]