The Birefringence of Wood Pulp Fibres and The Thickness of the S<sup>1</sup> and S<sup>3</sup> Layers

Authors

  • D. H. Page
  • F. El-Hosseiny

Keywords:

Fibres, cellulose fibres, softwoods, birefringence, optical properties, fibrils, angles, cell-wall thickness, fibre structure, microstructure, cell walls, primary walls, secondary walls

Abstract

The birefringence of pulped softwood fibres has been measured and found for several species to decrease with decreasing cell-wall thickness. This is explained theoretically by the compensation of the retardation of light in the S2 layer by the transversely wound S1 and S3 layers. These layers are of similar thickness for all fibres and thus have a greater effect on thin-walled fibres. Measurement of birefringence over a range of fibre wall thicknesses permits a determination of the thickness of the S1 and S3 layers, and the results are in good agreement with data from other methods.

References

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Published

2007-06-05

Issue

Number 3 / Fall 1974

Section

Research Contributions

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