Surface treatment on polymeric polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) core via dip-coating photopolymerisation curing method

Abstract

• Polymer optical was fabricated using co-extrusion followed by photopolymerization. • The lowest cladding thickness at 67.63 μm achieved using 13,000 mW/cm 2 UV irradiation. • The cladding with lowest thickness achieved power loss at −13.40 dBm. This work describes the fabrication and evaluation of fluoropolymer surface coating on polymer fibre core prepared from polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) using ultraviolet (UV) photopolymerisation curing method. The curing condition has a significant influence on the coating adhesion on the core. The focus of this study was to evaluate an effective and simple process for polymer optical fabrication using UV curing with dip-coating method. The coating performance was evaluated through surface morphology analysis and physical properties. FESEM–EDX images indicate that the fluoropolymer coating formed a compact structure with a cladding thickness of 67.63 μm for the highest UV irradiation strength. FTIR analysis revealed the presence of fluorine elements on coated fibre with EDX surface mapping of fluorine dispersion. The performance of the fibre was studied and compared with commercially available polymer optical fibre in terms of fibre spectral fluorescence properties and light attenuation. The dip-coating photopolymerisation method was effective in forming the cladding for step-index polymer fibre with similar spectral excitation wavelength recorded at 620 to 630 nm with the lowest power loss at −13.40 dBm.