TY - JOUR
T1 - Carboxymethyl Cellulose (CMC) Optical Fibers for Environment Sensing and Short-Range Optical Signal Transmission
AU - Jaiswal, Aayush
AU - Hokkanen, Ari
AU - Kapulainen, Markku
AU - Khakalo, Alexey
AU - Nonappa, null
AU - Ikkala, Olli
AU - Orelma, Hannes
PY - 2022/1/19
Y1 - 2022/1/19
N2 - Optical fibers are a key component in modern photonics, where conventionally used polymer materials are derived from fossil-based resources, causing heavy greenhouse emissions and raising sustainability concerns. As a potential alternative, fibers derived from cellulose-based materials offer renewability, biocompatibility, and biodegradability. In the present work, we studied the potential of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) to prepare optical fibers with a core-only architecture. Wet-spun CMC hydrogel filaments were cross-linked using aluminum ions to fabricate optical fibers. The transmission spectra of fibers suggest that the light transmission window for cladding-free CMC fibers was in the range of 550-1350 nm, wherein the attenuation coefficient for CMC fibers was measured to be 1.6 dB·cm-1 at 637 nm. CMC optical fibers were successfully applied in touch sensing and respiratory rate monitoring. Finally, as a proof-of-concept, we demonstrate high-speed (150 Mbit/s) short-distance signal transmission using CMC fibers (at 1310 nm) in both air and water media. Our results establish the potential of carboxymethyl cellulose-based biocompatible optical fibers for highly demanding advanced sensor applications, such as in the biomedical domain.
AB - Optical fibers are a key component in modern photonics, where conventionally used polymer materials are derived from fossil-based resources, causing heavy greenhouse emissions and raising sustainability concerns. As a potential alternative, fibers derived from cellulose-based materials offer renewability, biocompatibility, and biodegradability. In the present work, we studied the potential of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) to prepare optical fibers with a core-only architecture. Wet-spun CMC hydrogel filaments were cross-linked using aluminum ions to fabricate optical fibers. The transmission spectra of fibers suggest that the light transmission window for cladding-free CMC fibers was in the range of 550-1350 nm, wherein the attenuation coefficient for CMC fibers was measured to be 1.6 dB·cm-1 at 637 nm. CMC optical fibers were successfully applied in touch sensing and respiratory rate monitoring. Finally, as a proof-of-concept, we demonstrate high-speed (150 Mbit/s) short-distance signal transmission using CMC fibers (at 1310 nm) in both air and water media. Our results establish the potential of carboxymethyl cellulose-based biocompatible optical fibers for highly demanding advanced sensor applications, such as in the biomedical domain.
U2 - 10.1021/acsami.1c22227
DO - 10.1021/acsami.1c22227
M3 - Article
SN - 1944-8244
VL - 14
SP - 3315
EP - 3323
JO - ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
JF - ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
IS - 2
ER -