Water vapour permeability is critical in optical fibres not only because the strength of polymer coated fibres depends on water vapour activity at the polymer/glass interface (because of stress corrosion) but also due to the spectral shift response of optical whispering-gallery modes due to the adsorption and desorption of water molecules.

One reason for faults in electronic products is water vapour which can all too easily permeate into any enclosure, casing, fibre or component - once inside it condenses and causes problems. One solution is from Versaperm which can measure the vapour permeability of both complete products and components or material samples.

Many of the films used to seal the screens and keep water out of TV, computer screen, tablet and mobile screens are next to useless at keeping out water vapour – as it can permeate straight through them.  So says Versaperm, a specialist in vapour permeation technology, which has designed an instrument that can accurately measure this problem – not just for samples of the film but for the complete sealed and finished LED or plasma...

Versaperm's latest range of permeability meters can be used for both quality control and product development. They measure vapour permeability in around half an hour for some samples and are accurate in the PPM (Parts per Million) to PPB (Billion) range.

Several billion pounds a year are lost in the UK each year by machines that jam, electronics that fail, foods that rot, metals that rust, and drugs that lose potency. In the majority of cases the root cause is, shockingly, exactly the same. Vapours, usually water or hydrocarbon vapours that simply seep into the wrong place.

Water and other vapours can permeate through the actual fabric of adhesives or mastics, sometimes in large volume.  This can cause a huge variety of adhesion problems, including failure – water and its vapour are now thought to be the world’s most damaging contaminant.

The importance of protecting electronic components and equipment from moisture would seem to be a no-brainer as it causes electronic and system failure, yet some simple steps are not always being taken. One of the most critical of these is reducing the amount of water vapour that seeps through the enclosure and component packaging - even military grade missiles have crashed because of this problem.

Water vapour is almost impossible to keep out of any enclosure; it permeates through materials and causes short circuits and electronical failures. To help solve this problem, Versaperm has introduced a specialist vapour permeability measurement system for electronic enclosures and components.

The cost to people and business for electronics that fail, machines that jam, drugs that lose potency, metals that rust and foods that rot runs into billions of pounds each year in the UK alone. Perhaps surprisingly these and other problems like them, often have the same root cause. Vapours, usually water or hydrocarbon vapours, that simply get into the wrong place.

  To address the way in which water vapour affects the reliability of electronic equipment, Versaperm has introduced a device that tests the vapour permeability of materials, enclosures, casings and even complete products. 

Electronics and water aren't meant to mix, but huge numbers of enclosures, barriers and insulants simply don't work properly when it comes to water vapour. They may be fine with liquid water but they can be virtually useless when applied to the more common problem of excluding the moisture that's omnipresent in the air, which seeps in but can't seep out again. This can result in catastrophic failure.