Conductive polymer yams surface

The deposition of metals or conductive polymers offers another route, whether onto individual yams prior to fabric constmction or onto the constmcted fabric. Metal coatings can be achieved, for example by vacuum deposition or sputter coating (Sen, 2008). Conductive polymer may be deposited from a suspension, or through bulk polymerisation in the presence of the textile (Malinauskas, 2001). Better control is achieved if polymerisation occius on the actual textile fibre surfaces. A layer of monomer is first adsorbed. When exposed to a suitable oxidizing agent, the adsorbed monomer is polymerized (Malinauskas, 2001). The success of this approach is predicated on the extent of adsorption of the monomer and the resistance of the fibres to the oxidizing agent. 

The SEM is used to study the surfaces of polymer materials, such as plastics, fibers, yams, membranes, films and composites. The outer surfaces can be studied or bulk SEM studies can be performed on samples that have been fractured (Section 4.8) or sectioned. The flat surface remaining after sectioning can be used as a sample for SEM, particularly for x-ray analysis. A conductive coating (Section 4.7.3) is generally applied to the surfaces of interest for SEM. 

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