Dynamic characterization of carboxymethyl cellulosic nonwoven material in the environmental scanning electron microscope

Carboxymethyl cellulosic fibers have been increasingly used in health care, agriculture and biomedical areas. The fundamental understanding of the material under different conditions is of importance in these applications. The use of environmental scanning electron microscopy for dynamic characterization of these nonwoven materials under different conditions has been explored in this study. Dynamic tensile testing under different humidity conditions was performed in a Philips XL 30 FEG-ESEM. The relative humidity in the microscope chamber was adjusted from 10% up to 100% by controlling the specimen temperature and the chamber pressure. The tensile testing was carried out on a stage that was placed in the microscope chamber. The studies under dynamic conditions have given new insight into the kinetics of structure formation, rearrangement and breakdown that are important for the processing and product development of these fiber materials. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.