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Is polycarbonate plastic compatible with UV

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Zak28

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I could not find any material compatibility/reactability tables or charts depicting poly-carbonate plastic compatibility with UV light. Any docs are appreciated.

Thank you.
 

Nope. I can attest that IR cameras do not see through polycarbonate or most other glass and plastic.

This is annoying for power supply design where I want to measure the temp of something that I’m afraid may explode.

EDIT: Sorry, whoops you're asking about UV. I can't speak to that with any experience.
 
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Nope. I can attest that IR cameras do not see through polycarbonate or most other glass and plastic.

This is annoying for power supply design where I want to measure the temp of something that I’m afraid may explode.

EDIT: Sorry, whoops you're asking about UV. I can't speak to that with any experience.

Im concerned with material destruction by UV light than anything else concernting polycaronate.
 

Polycarbonates are stable in near UV and they are also transparent in the near UV (damage occurs only in far UV <180nm)
 

My only experience is with Polycarbonate sheeting in direct Sunlight. I have some here which has been exposed to the elements for more than 10 years and is as good as new. New sheeting just obtained has a 10 year guarantee in direct sunlight. Maybe not the UV source you were thinking of but it does seem quite stable in 'near visible' UV light. I can't confirm it degrades in <180nM wavelengths but sources at such high frequency are fairly rare in normal circumstances.

Brian.
 

My only experience is with Polycarbonate sheeting in direct Sunlight. I have some here which has been exposed to the elements for more than 10 years and is as good as new. New sheeting just obtained has a 10 year guarantee in direct sunlight. Maybe not the UV source you were thinking of but it does seem quite stable in 'near visible' UV light. I can't confirm it degrades in <180nM wavelengths but sources at such high frequency are fairly rare in normal circumstances.

Brian.

The UV source I have in mind is continuous (5min every day) low frequency ~4cm corona discharge positioned within a 12mm ID polycarbonate pipe, I know polycarbonate is immune to ozone but I didnt take UV into consideration. I also understand it is poor agianst UV unless the polycarbonate pellets are mixed with UV protecting stuff before its made into the shapes/sizes the plastic is desired to be made into. Im pretty sure the polycarbonate you have experience with is protected against UV were mine is likely a run off the mlll polycarbonate tube without any protection from UV. I understand polycarbonate is used for lenses but those are highly likely a treated polycarbonate variant.
 

Virgin polycarbonate is unaffected by near UV. As you mention ozone, that may suggest UV <180nm is present in significant amount. What kind of UV protecting stuff you are talking about?

When we want to make a lens, we want to have as much wide response as possible. The final user may put an IR or UV filter or a color filter as needed for special effects. You can take a near UV-VIS-near IR spectrum that will show whether and what additives are present in a sample.
 

The trouble now is whether the corona makes the stub 180nm UV which polycarbonate is susceptible to.
 

Look for a warning which says "Do not expose this type of plastic to prolonged sunlight, arc lights, arc welders", etc. Because these lights contain high content of UV.
 

Is there a particular reason that you need to use plastic. Maybe something like Pyrex glass tubes would work.
 

Is there a particular reason that you need to use plastic. Maybe something like Pyrex glass tubes would work.

Im certainly going with pyrex tubing, the trouble will be with the careful handling of the diamond powdered bit as I would have to drill into the glass to not overheat and strip the diamonds off the bit.
 

careful handling of the diamond powdered bit as I would have to drill into the glass...

It is not difficult but practice on a dummy (waste) piece. Use generous amounts of water as a lubricant - use the slowest speed.
 

You could consider using quartz glass instead, subject to the cutting difficulties already mentioned.

Special quartz glass is available commercially as a sleeve to go around 24/7 operating UV water treatment lamps and you can get it in different diameters and with both ends open or in 'test tube' styles. It is transparent to UV and can withstand high temperatures and thermal shock. Search for "UV water treatment quartz sleeve", it should find lots of examples.

Brian.
 

I hear some ignorance in above contributions. "Photo-oxidation of polycarbonate" is e.g. a keyword in the Wikipedia polycarbonate article. Similarly, it's hard to believe that the material should be immune to ozone which attacks effectively any organic matter.

Additionally consider that the literature usually doesn't talk about the effect of UV C in the vicinity of plasma discharge.

But UV radiation as well as ozone only attack the material surface, you can still achieve an acceptable lifetime of your apparatus.
 

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