Application in Textiles
The design, manufacture and export of textiles and apparel products is one of the biggest industries in Sri Lanka, and one which plays a key role in advancing the country’s economy. Sri Lanka has built its competitive edge on value-addition rather than cheap production cost, with greater emphasis on product quality and its ability to manufacture niche products. We offer several analytical techniques for textiles such as surface and structural characterisation of fibres, yarns and fabrics. We can determine the thermal stability and thermal transitions as well as provide qualitative and quantitative analysis of elemental compositions of textiles, paints and pigments. Some textile applications that are possible to be carried out at the SLINTEC premises using the equipment available for analysis are given below.
Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM)
- Examination of nanoparticles used for textile applications
- Characterization of nanofibers with diameters less than 200nm
Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)
- Structural characterization of fibres in textiles/yarn/fibres etc.
- Surface characterization of fibres in textiles etc.
- To analyse fabric/textile defects
- Examination of nanoparticles/microparticles used for textile applications
- SEM along with EDX analysis allows the subjective identification and qualitative analysis of elements at certain areas/points in a fabric/ a fibre etc.
Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM)
- Analysis of surface morphologies in 3D for fabrics in the nanoscale level
Optical Microscopy
- Analysis of basic structural parameters of textile products such as thickness, hairiness and number of twists
- Analysis of fabric defects
- Fabric structure analysis
Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA)
- Analysis of composition, thermal stability of textile materials (such as textiles, fibres filaments, threads, paints, pigments etc.)
- Analysis of moisture and ash content in textiles
Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC)
- Analysis of glass transition temperatures, melting behaviour, reaction enthalpies and effect of fillers in textile materials.
- Analysis of thermal transition values of textiles, pigments and paints
Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA)
- For the characterization of viscoelastic behaviour (modulus values) of textile materials with respect to temperature
Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR)
- Identification of chemical functionalities present in textiles
- Identification of textile fibre types
- Contamination analysis for textile materials
- Identification of surface chemical structures of textile materials
- Analysis of IR absorption behaviour of textiles
Raman Spectroscopy
- Used to analyse and differentiate types of fibres and different types of dyes used in textiles
Particle Size Analysis
- Analysis of the particle sizes and stability of dyes, pigments, emulsions and colourings used in textile industry
UV/Visible Spectroscopy
- Used to analyse colour properties of textiles, textile chemicals, dyes etc.
Fluorescenece Spectroscopy
- Characterization of optical brightness, fluorescence and phosphorescence
X-Ray Powder Diffraction (XRD)
- Used to analyse crystalline phases of textile materials (for identification of fibres)
- To obtain information regarding internal structure of textile fibres and spacing between the lattice structures
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (NMR)
- Solid state NMR for the analysis of chemical functionalities in textile materials (yarns fabric fibres etc.)
Inductively Coupled Plasma- Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS)
- Quantitave or qualitative analysis of the of elements in textile materials, dyes, paints etc
X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (XRF)
- Qualitative analysis of the elemental composition of fabrics/ textile materials from 11Na to 92U
- Elemental mapping of textile materials
CHNS Analysis
- To determine the C, H, N and S content of textile materials
Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDX)
- Used in the identification of elemental composition at certain areas/points in a fabric/ a fibre
- Used in the elemental mapping of textile materials
Particle Size Analysis
- Analysis of the particle sizes and stability of dyes, pigments, emulsions and colourings used in textile industry
