A New Method for the Rapid Examination of Textile Fiber Sections at High Magnification

The fiber or yarn is formed into a self-supporting "tow" by embedding with a small amount of fast-acting cyanoacrylate adhesive. It is sectioned on an ultramicrotome to 0.25 μm thickness. The sections can be immediately examined at magnifications up to 1000X without a cover glass and mounting medium if an appropriately corrected objective (such as that used on metallurgical microscopes) is available. The total elapsed time from receiving the specimen to viewing the sections is typically one hour.