High-Performance and Functional Fiber Materials—A Review of Properties, Scanning Electron Microscopy SEM and Electron Dispersive Spectroscopy EDS

Abstract

This review supports an overview of selected high-performance fibers and functional fiber materials. A review of several properties and applications is given. For fiber materials and fabrics, microscopic images taken by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) are presented. As well as this, electron dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) is performed on the fiber materials and an overview of EDS spectra is presented. The features of SEM images and EDS spectra are discussed, especially with the aim of supporting people who are working in the field of fiber analytics. To support a complete view of both analytic methods—SEM and EDS—challenges and typical mistakes for SEM measurements on textiles are also described. Altogether, this review supports a useful overview of interesting high technology fiber materials and their investigation using the analytical methods SEM and EDS. Using these, material properties and their composition are presented and discussed. The composition of industrial fiber materials is investigated and discussed, as well as fiber treatments for the realization of functional fiber properties. Furthermore, it aims to support a helpful tool for fiber and textile analytics and identification.