Structural Investigation of Normal and Treated Polyester Fibers by SAXS and Other Techniques

Abstract

Macromolecular parameters of normal and treated (acid & alkali) polyester fiber have been investigated using Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) technique. The theories of Vonk1 and Ruland 2 have been applied treating the fiber as non-ideal two-phase system. Intensity data was collected using compact Kratky camera. Three and one-dimensional correlation functions were computed from background corrected SAXS profiles and parameters like width of transition layer (E), average periodicity transverse to layer (D), specific inner surface (S/V), length of coherence (lc), transversal lengths in matter and void ( & ), range of inhomogenity (lr), volume fractions of matter and void (1 & 2), volume fraction of transition layer (2Ev /D) and characteristic number (fc) were determined. Furthermore, parameters were obtained from SEM, INSTRON and XRD. The simulation results related to above parameters confirm that strong acid & strong alkali affect the fiber to some extent at ambient temperature