CN115782003A - Preparation method of flexible optical fiber - Google Patents

Abstract

The application discloses a method for preparing a flexible optical fiber, which belongs to the field of flexible optical fiber preparation. Compared with the stretching high-temperature curing method in the prior art that requires special heating equipment, and the thickness of the produced optical fiber is not uniform enough, this application injects the raw material into the Teflon tube through the injection device; after the raw material is cured and formed, The Teflon tube was stripped to obtain a prepared flexible optical fiber. Since the Teflon tube is anti-adhesive and has a low coefficient of friction, using the Teflon tube as a mold to shape the raw material can produce a smooth and uniform flexible optical fiber, and inject the raw material into the Teflon through the injection device. In the Teflon tube, after the raw material is solidified and formed, the Teflon tube is peeled off. The tools used in the whole preparation process are relatively simple, and the preparation process is also very simple. The prepared flexible optical fiber is not only smooth in surface, but also uniform in thickness. During the preparation process, the problem of difficult demoulding does not occur, thereby improving product quality.

Description

Preparation method of flexible optical fiber

technical field

The present application relates to the field of preparation of flexible optical fibers, in particular to a preparation method of flexible optical fibers.

Background technique

In order to prepare flexible optical fibers with uniform thickness and smooth surface, the existing flexible optical fiber preparation methods mainly include stretching and high-temperature curing method, but this method requires special heating equipment, and the thickness of the produced optical fiber is not uniform enough.

Therefore, there are problems in the prior art that the preparation process of the flexible optical fiber is complicated and the product quality is poor.

Contents of the invention

The main purpose of the present application is to provide a method for preparing a flexible optical fiber, aiming at solving the technical problems in the prior art that the preparation process of the flexible optical fiber is complicated and the product quality is poor.

In order to achieve the above purpose, the present application provides a method for preparing a flexible optical fiber, comprising the following steps:

The preparation method of the flexible optical fiber comprises the following steps:

Inject the raw material into the Teflon tube through the injection device;

After the raw material is cured and formed, the Teflon tube is peeled off to obtain a prepared flexible optical fiber.

Optionally, the wall thickness of the Teflon tube is less than 100 microns.

Optionally, the injection port of the injection device is inserted into one end connected with the Teflon tube.

Optionally, the raw material is in liquid or colloidal state.

Optionally, the step of injecting the raw material into the Teflon tube through the injection device includes:

Fill liquid raw materials into containers;

Extend the other end of the Teflon tube connected to the injection device vertically into the container until the other end of the Teflon tube touches the liquid raw material;

The liquid raw material in the container is sucked into the Teflon tube through the injection device.

Optionally, the step of injecting the raw material into the Teflon tube through the injection device includes:

filling the colloidal raw material into the injection tube of the injection device;

Through the injection device, the colloidal raw material in the injection tube is extruded into the Teflon tube through the injection port.

Optionally, after the step of filling the colloidal raw material into the injection tube of the injection device, the method further includes:

The syringe filled with the colloidal raw material was allowed to stand for 20-24 hours.

Optionally, the insertion depth of the insertion connection is 5-10 mm.

Optionally, the interface between the Teflon tube and the injection port is bonded with AB glue.

Optionally, after the raw material is solidified and formed, the Teflon tube is stripped, and before the step of obtaining the prepared flexible optical fiber, the method further includes:

Put the Teflon tube containing the raw material into an oven, and heat it for 20-40 minutes at a temperature of 80-100 degrees Celsius.

This application proposes a method for preparing a flexible optical fiber. Compared with the stretching high-temperature curing method in the prior art, special heating equipment is required, and the thickness of the optical fiber produced is not uniform enough. This application injects the raw material into the Teflon through an injection device. in the tube; after the raw material is solidified and formed, the Teflon tube is peeled off to obtain the prepared flexible optical fiber. Since the Teflon tube is anti-adhesive and has a low coefficient of friction, using the Teflon tube as a mold to shape the raw material can produce a smooth and uniform flexible optical fiber, and inject the raw material into the Teflon through the injection device. In the Teflon tube, after the raw material is solidified and formed, the Teflon tube is peeled off. The preparation tools used are relatively simple, and the preparation process is also very simple. The preparation process of the flexible optical fiber is simplified and the product quality is improved.

Description of drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the application and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the application.

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application or the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings that need to be used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, for those of ordinary skill in the art, In other words, other drawings can also be obtained from these drawings without paying creative labor.

FIG. 1 is a schematic flow diagram of the first embodiment of the method for preparing a flexible optical fiber of the present application;

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of demolding the cured flexible optical fiber according to the first embodiment of the method for preparing the flexible optical fiber of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of injecting liquid raw materials into a mold according to the second embodiment of the method for preparing a flexible optical fiber of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of injecting colloidal raw materials into a mold according to the second embodiment of the method for manufacturing a flexible optical fiber of the present application.

The realization, functional features and advantages of the present application will be further described in conjunction with the embodiments and with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Detailed ways

It should be understood that the specific embodiments described here are only used to explain the present application, and are not intended to limit the present application.

The embodiment of the present application provides a method for preparing a flexible optical fiber. Referring to FIG. 1 , FIG. 1 is a schematic flowchart of a first embodiment of the method for preparing a flexible optical fiber of the present application.

In this embodiment, the preparation method of the flexible optical fiber includes:

Step S10, injecting the raw material into the Teflon tube through the injection device;

In vivo optogenetic regulation requires the use of flexible optical fibers. Optogenetic regulation technology refers to a technology that combines optical and genetic means to control specific neurons. This technology expresses the photosensitive ion channel protein on the cell membrane of specific neurons through gene editing, so that the neuron cells can obtain a response to external light stimulation, and then apply a certain wavelength of light stimulation to precisely control the activation and activation of specific neurons. inhibition.

As the carrier of light transmission, optical fiber needs to be implanted in optogenetic regulation. However, the elastic modulus (2.2-7.2Gpa) of existing commercial optical fibers is much larger than that of nerves and surrounding tissues (0.1-20Kpa). The mismatch of elastic modulus means that existing commercial optical fibers will not deform together with the tissue. During the bending and contraction of the surrounding tissue, the stress concentration effect occurs on the interface between the implanted and the surrounding tissue in contact with the nerve, causing severe damage to the tissue surrounding the nerve on the interface, inducing tissue inflammation, necrosis, fluid accumulation, etc., which may lead to Death of experimental animals.

Therefore, the preparation of flexible optical fibers is very important, but there are problems in the existing preparation process of flexible optical fibers that require special equipment, uneven quality and difficult preparation.

At present, flexible optical fiber is widely used as a carrier for light transmission in optogenetic regulation. At present, in order to prepare flexible optical fibers with uniform thickness and smooth surface, the existing flexible optical fiber preparation methods mainly include stretching high-temperature curing method and mold forming method, while the stretching high-temperature curing method requires special heating equipment, and through stretching The resulting fiber thickness is not uniform enough. Moreover, the mold forming method uses molds such as glass microtubes, resulting in some special flexible optical fiber materials, such as PDMS (Polydimethylsiloxane, polydimethylsiloxane), which are often tightly bonded to the mold after curing, and there is a problem of difficulty in demoulding.

In this embodiment, on the basis of the traditional mold forming method, a Teflon tube is selected as the mold to prepare the flexible optical fiber.

Specifically, the good anti-adhesive properties of the Teflon tube itself make it difficult for liquid or colloidal chemicals to adhere to the inner wall of the Teflon tube; and the Teflon tube itself has a low friction coefficient, which is generally 0.04 , is a good self-lubricating material, and the coefficient of friction does not change with temperature.

Therefore, the raw material is injected into the Teflon tube through the injection device, and the Teflon tube is used as a mold to shape the raw material, so that a flexible optical fiber with a smooth surface and uniform thickness can be prepared.

As an example, the injection device may be a syringe or a syringe pump, etc., which is not specifically limited.

Specifically, the syringe is composed of an injection tube, a piston and an injection port. Referring to FIG. 3 or 4, the syringe is a needle tube.

As an example, the injection port of the injection device is inserted into one end connected with the Teflon tube.

Specifically, by inserting one end of the Teflon tube into the injection port of the injection device, air can be prevented from being injected into the Teflon tube during the injection process, air bubbles inside the flexible optical fiber can be reduced, and the transmission efficiency of the flexible optical fiber can be improved.

As an example, the inner diameter of the injection port of the injection device matches the outer diameter of the Teflon tube, specifically, the outer diameter of the Teflon tube may be slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the injection port of the injection device, so that Allow the Teflon tube to be inserted into the injection port of the injection device without loosening.

Optionally, the insertion depth of the insertion connection is 5-10 mm.

Specifically, by inserting one end of the Teflon tube into the injection port of the injection device for 5-10 mm, it can prevent the Teflon tube from detaching from the injection port, and play a role of sealing, which can prevent air from being injected into the injection port during the injection process. The Teflon tube reduces the air bubbles inside the flexible optical fiber and improves the transmission efficiency of the flexible optical fiber.

Optionally, the interface between the Teflon tube and the injection port is bonded with AB glue.

Specifically, insert one end of the Teflon tube into the joint (interface) connected to the injection port of the injection device and use AB glue (two-liquid mixed hardening glue) for bonding, which can play a better sealing role and avoid injection During the process, air is injected into the Teflon tube to reduce the air bubbles inside the flexible optical fiber and improve the transmission efficiency of the flexible optical fiber.

Step S20, after the raw material is solidified and formed, the Teflon tube is peeled off to obtain a prepared flexible optical fiber.

As an example, it may be to wait for the raw material in the Teflon tube to solidify naturally, or to heat the Teflon tube to accelerate the solidification of the raw material inside.

In this embodiment, before the step of stripping the Teflon tube to obtain the prepared flexible optical fiber after the raw material is solidified and shaped, the method further includes:

Step S30, putting the Teflon tube containing the raw materials into an oven, and heating at a temperature of 80-100 degrees Celsius for 20-40 minutes.

As an example, the raw material used to make the flexible optical fiber may be silicone rubber.

Optionally, the silicone rubber is PDMS.

As an example, put the Teflon tube containing PDMS into an oven, heat at 90 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes, heat at 100 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes, and heat at 800 degrees Celsius for 40 minutes .

In this embodiment, the above heat treatment process can speed up the solidification and molding of the raw material.

As an example, the wall thickness of the Teflon tube is less than 100 microns.

The tube wall thickness of the Teflon tube that adopts in the present embodiment is less than 100 microns, and the commercially available Teflon tube tube wall thickness is about 300 microns, and the Teflon tube that adopts in the present embodiment and commercially available Teflon Tubes can be torn directly and easily for quick and easy mold release.

As an example, after the raw material is solidified and shaped, the Teflon tube can be directly peeled off using scissors, needle-nose pliers, pointed tweezers, or the like.

As an example, refer to FIG. 2, which is a schematic diagram of demolding the cured flexible optical fiber in the first embodiment of the method for preparing the flexible optical fiber of the present application. The stripping method may be to use two pointed tweezers, one It is used to fix the Teflon tube, and the other one is used to tear the whole Teflon tube from one end of the Teflon tube, so that the flexible optical fiber is exposed, and the demoulding of the flexible optical fiber is completed.

As an example, by controlling the inner diameter of Teflon, flexible optical fibers of different diameters can be made. By controlling the length of the Teflon tube, flexible optical fibers of different lengths can be made. The whole process is simple and controllable.

Specifically, the diameter of the flexible optical fiber that can be prepared is between 0.1-3 mm.

In this embodiment, since the Teflon tube has anti-adhesive properties and has a low coefficient of friction, the raw material is injected into the Teflon tube through an injection device, and the Teflon tube is used as a mold to shape the raw material. A smooth and uniform flexible optical fiber can be prepared. After the raw material is cured and shaped, the Teflon tube can be easily peeled off to complete demoulding. The tools used in the whole preparation process are relatively simple, and the preparation process is also very simple. The prepared flexible optical fiber not only has a smooth surface, but also has uniform thickness, and there will be no difficulty in demoulding during the preparation process, which improves the product quality and simplifies the process. The preparation process of the flexible optical fiber improves the preparation efficiency of the flexible optical fiber.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a second embodiment on the basis of the first embodiment of the method for preparing a flexible optical fiber.

During manufacture, the raw material may be in liquid or colloidal state. The preparation process for these two raw materials is different, but the same is that the preparation method of the above-mentioned embodiment 1 is used, and the raw materials are injected into the Teflon tube through the injection device; after the raw materials are solidified and formed, the The Teflon tube was peeled off to obtain the prepared flexible optical fiber.

Specifically, the method for preparing a flexible optical fiber using a liquid raw material is as follows.

In this embodiment, the step of injecting the raw material into the Teflon tube through the injection device includes:

Step A1: filling liquid raw materials into a container;

As an example, refer to FIG. 3, which is a schematic diagram of the liquid raw material injection mold of the second embodiment of the method for preparing a flexible optical fiber according to the present application. An appropriate amount of liquid raw material is filled into a container to complete the preparation stage of the raw material. .

As an example, after the liquid raw material is filled into the container, it can be kept still for 20-24 hours to eliminate air bubbles in the liquid raw material in the container.

Step A2: Extend the other end of the Teflon tube connected to the injection device vertically into the container until the other end of the Teflon tube touches the liquid raw material;

As an example, with reference to Fig. 3, the other end (the end away from the injection port) of the Teflon tube connected with the injection device is vertically stretched into the inside of the container until the end of the Teflon tube The other end is in contact with the liquid raw material, completing the preparation stage for injection.

As an example, the raw material in contact with the liquid may be the solution surface of the raw material passing through the container, so as to prevent external air from entering the Teflon tube and reduce the generation of air bubbles inside the flexible optical fiber.

Step A3: suck the liquid raw material in the container into the Teflon tube through the injection device.

Since the liquid raw material is not easy to inject into the Teflon tube by extrusion, if it is injected into the Teflon tube by extrusion, the other end of the Teflon tube needs to be blocked, which is not conducive to the formation of air bubbles. Discharging affects the quality of the flexible optical fiber. Therefore, when using liquid raw materials to prepare flexible optical fibers, a method of sucking the liquid raw materials in the container into the Teflon tube is adopted.

Specifically, by using the method of sucking the liquid raw material in the container into the Teflon tube, the sucking speed is relatively better controlled, which can reduce surface friction and ensure the smoothness of the surface of the flexible optical fiber.

As an example, referring to FIG. 3 , by pulling the piston of the injection device, the liquid raw material in the container is sucked into the Teflon tube. No air will enter during the preparation process, which can further ensure the smoothness of the surface of the manufactured flexible optical fiber and no bubbles inside.

Specifically, the method for preparing a flexible optical fiber using a colloidal raw material is as follows.

In this embodiment, the step of injecting the raw material into the Teflon tube through the injection device includes:

Step B1: filling the colloidal raw material into the injection tube of the injection device;

As an example, on the contrary, when using colloidal raw materials to prepare flexible optical fibers, it will be more laborious to inhale than extrusion. Therefore, when using colloidal raw materials to prepare flexible optical fibers, extrusion is used to prepare flexible optical fibers. optical fiber.

Specifically, referring to FIG. 4, FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of injecting the colloidal raw material into the mold of the second embodiment of the method for preparing the flexible optical fiber of the present application, and filling it into the injection tube of the injection device to complete the preparation stage of the raw material.

As an example, the volume of the needle tube is selected according to the volume of raw materials required for the flexible optical fiber to be prepared, and may be 5 mL or 10 mL, etc., and is not specifically limited.

In this embodiment, after the step of filling the colloidal raw material into the injection tube of the injection device, the method further includes:

Step C1: The injection tube filled with the colloidal raw material is left to stand for 20-24 hours.

After being filled into the injection tube of the injection device, in order to prevent the colloidal raw material itself from containing air bubbles, it is necessary to let the injection tube filled with the colloidal raw material stand still for 20-24 hours.

Specifically, it may be standing still for 24 hours, 22 hours, 20 hours, etc., which is not specifically limited.

Step B2: Squeeze the colloidal raw material in the injection tube into the Teflon tube through the injection port through the injection device.

As an example, referring to FIG. 4 , by pushing the piston of the injection device, the colloidal raw material in the injection tube is squeezed into the Teflon tube through the injection port. Compared with the inhalation method, the extrusion speed can be better controlled, so that the prepared flexible optical fiber is more uniform.

Therefore, the method for preparing a flexible optical fiber provided in this embodiment is suitable for raw materials that are in a liquid or colloidal state at room temperature and used in the preparation of flexible optical fibers. Moreover, the preparation process is very simple, and the prepared flexible optical fiber has no bubbles, smooth surface and uniform thickness. Specifically, by using the method of sucking the liquid raw material in the container into the Teflon tube, the sucking speed is relatively better controlled, which can reduce surface friction and ensure the smoothness of the surface of the flexible optical fiber. When using colloidal raw materials to prepare flexible optical fibers, it will be more laborious to prepare flexible optical fibers by suction than by extrusion. Therefore, when using colloidal raw materials to prepare flexible optical , which can better control the extrusion speed and make the prepared flexible optical fiber more uniform.

It should be noted that, as used herein, the term "comprises", "comprises" or any other variation thereof is intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion such that a process, method, article or system comprising a set of elements includes not only those elements, It also includes other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent in the process, method, article, or system. Without further limitations, an element defined by the phrase "comprising a..." does not preclude the presence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article or system comprising that element.

The serial numbers of the above embodiments of the present application are for description only, and do not represent the advantages and disadvantages of the embodiments.

Through the description of the above embodiments, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the methods of the above embodiments can be implemented by means of software plus a necessary general-purpose hardware platform, and of course also by hardware, but in many cases the former is better implementation. Based on such an understanding, the technical solution of the present application can be embodied in the form of a software product in essence or the part that contributes to the prior art, and the computer software product is stored in a storage medium as described above (such as ROM/RAM , magnetic disk, optical disk), including several instructions to enable a terminal device (which may be a mobile phone, computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute the methods described in various embodiments of the present application.

The above are only preferred embodiments of the present application, and are not intended to limit the patent scope of the present application. All equivalent structures or equivalent process transformations made by using the description of the application and the accompanying drawings are directly or indirectly used in other related technical fields. , are all included in the patent protection scope of the present application in the same way.

Claims (10)

1. a preparation method of flexible optical fiber, is characterized in that, the preparation method of described flexible optical fiber comprises the following steps: Inject the raw material into the Teflon tube through the injection device; After the raw material is cured and formed, the Teflon tube is peeled off to obtain a prepared flexible optical fiber. 2 . The method for preparing a flexible optical fiber according to claim 1 , wherein the wall thickness of the Teflon tube is less than 100 microns. 3 . 3 . The method for preparing a flexible optical fiber according to claim 1 , wherein the injection port of the injection device is inserted into the end connected with the Teflon tube. 4 . 4. The method for preparing a flexible optical fiber according to claim 3, wherein the raw material is in liquid or colloidal state. 5. The preparation method of flexible optical fiber as claimed in claim 4, is characterized in that, the described step of injecting raw material in the Teflon tube by injection device, comprises: Fill liquid raw materials into containers; Extend the other end of the Teflon tube connected to the injection device vertically into the container until the other end of the Teflon tube touches the liquid raw material; The liquid raw material in the container is sucked into the Teflon tube through the injection device. 6. The preparation method of flexible optical fiber as claimed in claim 4, is characterized in that, the described step of injecting raw material in the Teflon tube by injection device, comprises: filling the colloidal raw material into the injection tube of the injection device; Through the injection device, the colloidal raw material in the injection tube is extruded into the Teflon tube through the injection port. 7. The method for preparing a flexible optical fiber according to claim 6, characterized in that, after the step of filling the colloidal raw material into the injection tube of the injection device, the method further comprises: The syringe filled with the colloidal raw material was allowed to stand for 20-24 hours. 8. The method for preparing a flexible optical fiber according to claim 3, wherein the insertion depth of the insertion connection is 5-10 mm. 9. The method for preparing a flexible optical fiber according to claim 3, wherein the interface between the Teflon tube and the injection port is bonded with AB glue. 10. The preparation method of flexible optical fiber according to claim 1, characterized in that, after said raw material is solidified and formed, said Teflon tube is stripped off, and before the step of obtaining the prepared flexible optical fiber, said Methods also include: Put the Teflon tube containing the raw material into an oven, and heat it for 20-40 minutes at a temperature of 80-100 degrees Celsius.

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