Abstract
Flexible photonics, characterized by their planar design and integrated features, have surfaced as a promising technology to unlock new possibilities for multifunctionality within fiber reinforced polymer composite materials. A comprehensive review of current progress, challenges, and opportunities associated with flexible photonic integration into carbon and glass fiber reinforced polymers is provided. A systematic examination of the literature has revealed several flexible photonic technologies that have demonstrated potential for integration in composite components to monitor performance in manufacture, service, and reuse. The review highlights the advantages and limitations of the current state-of-the-art in flexible integrated photonics for making assessments of compatibility with carbon and glass fiber reinforced polymer structures. By examining proof-of-concept demonstrations, the improved performance and novel functionalities that can be achieved for industrial applications are identified. The challenges associated with the integration process, such as durability and scalability are discussed in the context of the manufacturing processes required to create composite components. The concept of integrating flexible photonics in composite structures is relatively new, hence the paper closes by highlighting opportunities for further research and development in this field.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 100277 |
| Number of pages | 22 |
| Journal | Optical Materials |
| Volume | 20 |
| Early online date | 27 Nov 2023 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 12 Dec 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Christopher Holmes reports financial support was provided by Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. Christopher Holmes and Janice Dulieu-Barton have patent #US-2022-0260363-A1 pending to University of Southampton. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.The authors have been supported by EPSRC 'Roll-2-Roll (R2R) manufacture of multilayer planar optics', EP/V053213/1 and 'EPSRC Future Composites and Manufacturing Hub', EP/P006701/1. For the purpose of open access, the author has applied a creative commons attribution (CC BY) licence (where permitted by UKRI, ‘open government licence’ or ‘creative commons attribution no-derivatives (CC BY-ND) licence’ may be stated instead) to anyz author accepted manuscript version arising.
Funding Information:
The authors have been supported by EPSRC 'Roll-2-Roll (R2R) manufacture of multilayer planar optics', EP/V053213/1 and ' EPSRC Future Composites and Manufacturing Hub', EP/P006701/1 . For the purpose of open access, the author has applied a creative commons attribution (CC BY) licence (where permitted by UKRI, ‘open government licence’ or ‘creative commons attribution no-derivatives (CC BY-ND) licence’ may be stated instead) to anyz author accepted manuscript version arising.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023