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Multilayer coating by drawing a thin plastic fiber through a polymer solution
Author(s) -
Oda Masaaki,
Suga Shinichiro,
Yoshii Hidefumi,
Furuta Takeshi
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
asia‐pacific journal of chemical engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.348
H-Index - 35
eISSN - 1932-2143
pISSN - 1932-2135
DOI - 10.1002/apj.105
Subject(s) - coating , polymer , materials science , composite material , dimensionless quantity , refractive index , fiber , monomer , capillary action , thermodynamics , optoelectronics , physics
Continuous entrainment of a core fiber through the free surfaces of various polymer solutions was applied as a multilayer coating method of the fiber. This method, by use of polymer solutions of different refractive indices (RIs), will ultimately result in a graded‐index polymer optical fiber (GI‐POF) with an established radial RI distribution. The coating behavior of polymer solutions of different compositions of monomers and polymers was studied by means of a newly developed three‐stage coating equipment. Data correlation showed that the dimensionless coating thickness, e ∞ , was proportionally dependent on the square root of the capillary number, Ca 0.5 . The coating thickness could be controlled by changing the composition of the polymer solution. It was also found that the multilayer coating method was able to produce fibers with excellent circularity. Copyright © 2007 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.