Lucent Technologies Inc.

At+t Corp.

Solidia Technologies, Inc.

Yussuf Sultan Ali

Lloyd Shepherd

Darryl Leneir Brownlow

Howard Edan Katz

Anuj Seth

Valerie Jeanne Kuck

Marcia Lea Schilling

Robert C Moore

Jitendra Jain

Nicholas James Levinos

Makar Makram Ibrahim

Dishen Patel

Matthew David Sulik

Alex Harris

A method of producing a carbonated composite material includes: providing a carbonatable cementitious material in particulate form; mixing the carbonatable cementitious material with water to produce a mix; forming a predetermined shape with the mix, wherein the predetermined shape has an initial pore structure containing an initial pore solution having a first pH; pre-conditioning the predetermined shape to remove a predetermined amount of the water from the predetermined shape to produce a pre-conditioned shape; carbonating the pre-conditioned shape in an environment comprising carbon dioxide to produce a modified pore structure containing a modified pore solution having and a second pH, wherein the difference between the first pH and the second pH is represented by a &#x394;pH, and the &#x394;pH is 1.0 or less.

Methods of forming cured composite materials with optimized pH and related compositions and systems

Applicants have discovered that the speed of fiber manufacture can be substantially increased by employing a two-step curing process in which the fiber is drawn, coated and exposed to ultraviolet light on-line at high line speeds to effect a partial cure of the coating. After further cooling, the partially cured coating is fully cured by an on-reel exposure to ultraviolet light. The on-reel exposure can take place on the draw tower take-up reel as it is filing with fiber or it can take place off-line after the take-up reel has been filled and removed from the line. The on-reel exposure advantageously takes place either during filling the take-up reel, or during emptying the reel, so that each layer of fiber on the reel is exposed equally to the ultraviolet light. This method of UV illumination improves the energy efficiency in the second exposure by at least a factor of 10 to as much as a factor of 1000. The fiber primary coating pullout strength and mechanical modulus are enhanced.

High speed method for coating and curing optical fiber

Applicants have discovered that low pullout strength of optical fiber is attributable to volatile, unreacted monomers and impurities which result from the incomplete polymerization of liquid coating materials. They have further discovered that removing these unreacted liquids as by heating in air, heating in vacuum or by application of a solvent mixture improves fiber coating adhesion. By heating cured polymer-coated fiber in air at temperatures of 100.degree. C. or more, the fiber pullout strength is enhanced by 25% or more. This postcure heating can advantageously be clone off-line by placing loosely wound fiber in a heated oven. Alternatively, the postcure heating can be done on-line by reel-to-reel passage of the fiber through a heated furnace. Preferred temperatures are in the range 100.degree. C.-300.degree. C. Even greater enhancement of pullout strength can be effected by heating in vacuum or by solvent extraction.

Method for enhancing the pullout strength of polymer-coated optical fiber

Growing community of inventors

Fanwood, NJ, United States of America

Yussuf Sultan Ali