Conventional E-glass fibre light guides: self-sensing composite based on sol–gel cladding

The aim of this study was to modify conventional reinforcing E-glass fibres to enable them to act as optical waveguides and subsequently as sensor devices. This required the glass fibres to be coated with a relatively homogeneous coating with a corresponding refractive index that was lower than the E-glass fibre (1.56). Although a range of coating materials are available, this study focused on using materials that are generally used as sizing agents for glass fibres to improve the adhesion to the matrix. Two different methods based on conventional sol–gel processing were used to obtain crack-free coatings. In the first method, tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and polyvinyl alcohol were used as precursors. In the second method, acid-catalysed solutions of TEOS mixed with 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane were used as precursors. UV–visible transmission results showed that the films had low absorption and high transparency in the visible range. The refractive indices of the films were found to be a function of the molar fractions of the major chemical components. A simple impregnation procedure was used to apply the coating to the E-glass fibre bundles. The light transmission characteristics of the coated fibres along with their mechanical properties were evaluated. The sol–gel coatings were shown to be effective in converting the conventional E-glass fibres into light guides.

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