TESTEX expands testing facilities for assessing damage claims
16 Jan '09
2 min read
TESTEX has further expanded its testing facilities for assessing damage claims. The acquisition of a scanning electron microscope (SEM) with energy-dispersive X-ray fluo-rescence analysis (EDX) now enables individual chemical elements to be identified (Fig. 1). The growing demand for cashmere analyses using the SEM can also be satisfied.
The scanning electron microscope enables, for example, the cross-section and surface characteristics of fibres, filaments and yarns to be displayed. The SEM's great depth of focus and high resolution make it especially suitable for displaying objects with struc-tured surfaces. A solid, three-dimensional image is displayed on the monitor of the SEM (see Fig. 2 & 3).
The possible range of analyses using the SEM can be further expanded by energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis (EDX). EDX utilises the X-rays occurring in the SEM to investigate the elementary composition, which means that minute areas of the sample material can be analysed. This relates to elements with atomic numbers higher than 11 (all elements heavier than sodium). As the example here shows, the amount of silver (Ag) on the fibres (e.g. X-Static) can be determined. This is displayed by means of the spectrum (see Fig. 4) with a peak at 3 keV.
This method of analysis is being used increasingly for assessing damage claims in or-der to perform elementary analysis of coatings and deposits on textile surfaces.
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