Study of dye diffusion in fibers by laser scanning confocal microscopy

The diffusion of a fluorescent dye in nylon 66 fibers was studied by using a laser scanning confocal microscope (LSCM) acid by a conventional method. The diffusion coefficients were determined by both methods and they were in close agreement. The study of dye diffusion in fibers by LSCM is simple, q uick and also able to provide high resolution images of fiber cross-section s and 3D images of the dye distribution in fibers. To our knowledge this is the first report of using a LSCM to study dye diffusion in polymeric fiber s.