Rapid Microscopic Identification of Synthetic Fibers in a Single Liquid Mount

Abstract

Abstract Most natural fibers are either cellulosic or proteinaceous and can be identified readily by unique morphological features. Synthetic fibers, on the other hand, vary only slightly in shape characteristics. They can, however, because of great compositional differences, be distinguished by their refractive indices, which can often be determined by dispersion staining. A simple scheme is proposed using this technique on fibers mounted in Cargille high-dispersion liquid (index of refraction for 25¼ and sodium light equal to 1.525).