In Spain, looking for clear teflon tube for a lightpipe.
I guess this question has two parts.
I'm prototyping a solar energy device, part of which is a light pipe to transport the collected solar energy, about 300 - 2500 nM.
I'm planning on making this from a flexible tube filled with a highly refractive liquid, stoppered at each end with clear plugs.
It looks like the materials I should be using are:
Tube: Teflon (PTFE, FEP, AF 1600, AF 2400) in that order of desireablitity, lowest to highest. The AF 2400 has a refractive index of 1.29, which is the lowest of any polymer. Apparently.
Core: Mineral oil / liquid paraffin.
Plugs: Acrylic or normal glass.
Thoughts?
Also, where would you suggest I try to find these? (I have the mineral oil already) Keeping in mind that I'm in Madrid, Spain.
Getting this to work would make a huge difference to solar microgeneration, as transporting the energy is currently a bit of a nightmare.
Thanks heaps,
Daniel.
Discussions
10 years ago
I didn't know you could get transparent Teflon tubing; I've only ever seen it white!
My favorite resource for hardware is McMaster-Carr Industrial Supply. They're in the U.S.; I don't know if Continental Europe has something equivalent.