Optical fibre filament manufacturing and testing for bio- sensing applications

Abstract

In this thesis, PLA fibres are manufactured using a crucible melting methodology in the University of Nottingham laboratories. The PLA fibres’ optical and thermal properties are tested through FTIR, RAMAN, spectroscopy and TGA for a comparative analysis with the PGF fibres taken from Dr. Ifty. The FTIR and RAMAN tests proved the successful PLA fibres withdrawal without any chemical reaction occurrence. The successful withdrawal is assessed based on the light transmittance percentage and light intensity spectra plotted against a wavelength range of 500 to 900 cm-1. C-O, CH3, and C=O bonds were extracted from the RAMAN results at 871, 1452, 1772 cm-1. The PGF has better absorbance and transparency in terms of light guidance and confinement with 6% transparency for a wavelength range of 400 to 900 nm. PGF has higher light confinement than the PLA fibre, which is more significant in terms of keeping the light inside while applying it in a core clad based optical fibre biosensor. The PLA fibre’ thermal stability is reliable with one step weight degradation occurred at 340°C.