MEASURING THE FIBRIL ANGLE OF BLEACHED FIBERS USING MICRO-RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY

A new technique for measuring the fibril angle of bleached pulp fibres is presented. It uses micro-Raman spectroscopy and involves measuring the ratio of the 1094 to 1120 cm(-1) peak intensities as a function o f angle. It is compared with a direct method of measuring of the fibri l angle (cell wall striation method) and with two indirect methods (po larized light microscopy and pit aperture angle methods). A good corre lation was obtained with the direct method indicating that the Raman m ethod can accurately determine fibril angles in pine fibres. Poor corr elations with the indirect methods suggest that these methods are inhe rently inaccurate.