Dear group.
I am looking into the absorption properties of polymers. We want to shield an optical detector from direct sunlight with as thin layer of polymer as possible (the housing will be injection moulded from this polymer).
Any recommendation of commercially available polymers (suitable for injection moulding), with very good optical absorption properties, are very welcome. Sunlight should be reduced with a factor of around 10E-9, so it is not an easy task
Best regards
Kasper Paasch
Can't you just use a black polymer? i.e., one with carbon black filler? It's cheap, readily available and goes into nearly any polymer you want so that the total product is cheap as well. You can also use metal fillers, but they are more expensive. TiO2 will block a good deal of UV if that is a concern. Assuming simple absorptivity, a give thickness will cut the transmission by say 50%. Doubling that will cut it an additional 50% to 75% total. Continue on in this manner and you will see that the transmission falls exponentially. Since you will have scattering, absorption and reflection, I would not be surprised if the decay was super-exponential with regards to thickness.
John Aspen Research, -
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