| abstract |
A protected fiber optic waveguide comprising: (I) a core; (II) a cladding disposed on, around, and in contact with the exterior surface of the core; and (III) a buffer coating disposed on, around, and in contact with the exterior surface of the cladding, the buffer coating comprising a polysiloxane material comprising: (a) a polydimethylsiloxane and (b) a copolysiloxane comprising (i) a repeat unit selected from the group consisting of methylphenylsiloxane and diphenylsiloxane and (ii) a dimethylsiloxane repeat unit, the molar ratio of units (i) to units (ii) being between about 10:90 and about 80:20 if unit (i) is methylphenylsiloxane and between about 5:95 and about 50:50 if unit (i) is diphenylsiloxane; the weight ratio of polydimethylsiloxane (a) to copolysiloxane (b) being between about 5:95 and about 85:15. |