Fabric Fibers
SEM Lab, Inc. can perform analysis, identification and characterization of a wide variety of fibers. Materials such as fabrics and hair can be examined for structure, weave and/or size.
Below are some examples of fiber analysis.
Optical image of low quality cotton fabric. The lower thread count per inch is apparent.
Optical image of high quality cotton fabric. It has a denser thread count.
SEM image of low quality cotton fabric. Again the lower thread count per inch is obvious.
SEM image of high Quality cotton fabric.
EDS of low Quality cotton fabric.
EDS of high Quality cotton fabric.
FTIR of low quality cotton fabric.
FTIR of high quality cotton fabric.
Animal Fibers
Fiber images can be used to measure the diameter of the fibers, which is important for grading of cashmere.
Examples of optical and BSE SEM images of animal fiber are shown below. The high resolution of BSE SEM images is ideal for measurement of the fiber diameter.
Optical image of mixed goat fiber (cashmere & guard hair) and llama wool.
SEM image of cashmere and llama wool.
SEM image of cashmere with measurement.
Polyester Thread
An example of a man-made fiber as seen in the SEM is shown below.
SEM image of polyester thread.