Heated Alcohol Tests

When the light guides were placed in heated ethanol concentrations, damage occurred to the fibers' cladding. Because it was significant damage, many concentrations were tested.

The procedure for the heated alcohol tests can be found here.

Above is the plot of all of the data collected from the heated alcohol tests. The different colors represent the individual tests. It appears that the fibers swell slightly in size until around 65%, where their widths greatly increase. However, after the 65% mark, the fibers have a negative change in width which it is when it is believed that the entire cladding is removed. This information is very important when considering what temperature and concentrations of ethanol can be used to clean the fibers.

This is a comparison of some fibers from Test 5. On the right is a fiber which sat in 75% ethanol, in the middle is a fiber from 65% and on the right is a fiber which sat in 55% ethanol. It is extremely clear that the cladding from the middle fiber is very damaged.

This fiber was in 59% ethanol. In this picture the cloudiness of the solution can be seen. Because the fiber is still clear, it is believed that the fiber's cladding has dissolved somewhat and that is why the ethanol concentration is no longer transparent.

Here you can see how the ethanol concentrations become increasingly cloudy as the ethanol concentration increases. The vials' concentrations are as follows: 55%, 55%, 60%, 60%, 65%, 65%, 70%, 70%, 75%, 75%. We believe that the vials get cloudier because of the increasing damage to the fibers cladding.

This is a fiber which rested in 62% ethanol. The picture was taken immediately after being removed from the solution. As you can see, the fiber looks evenly cloudy and looks swollen.

This is the same fiber as photographed above, except it has now had 30 minutes to dry at room temperature. It is no longer as cloudy as before, and the fiber's cladding is now wrinkled and damaged.