Ultimate fibers

Fig. 1. Typical longitudinal section of bast fiber showing very long fiber strands composed of many ultimate fibers (see Table 3 for dimensions).

Ultimate fiber Cell cross section Fiber strand... 

Figure 6. Comparison of the ultimate fiber fragment aspect ratio in SFC specimens prepared from treated and untreated fibers under the dry condition (I) untreated (2) APS 3-aminopropyltricthoxy-silane (3) PS076.5 dimethoxymclhylsilylpropyl-substituicd polyelhylcneimine (aminofunctional) (4) PS076 trimethoxysilylpropyl-substitutcd polyelhylcneimine (aminofunctional).

FIGURE 7.2 Part of a fiber bundle of jute as seen in transverse view under the scanning electron microscope. The cementing material between the ultimate fibers can be clearly seen. Magnification x 7600. (Scanning electron micrograph by Mr. A.J. Canning. Courtesy of Tropical Development and Research... 

Lewin [95] makes a very important point in that the analyses reported in the literature usually refer to the fibers without differentiating as to the degree of their purification by retting or by chemical methods. It may, therefore, be assumed that most of these analyses, in many cases carried out with inadequate analytical methods, actually refer not only to the ultimate fibers and the inner middle lamella, but also to the varying parts of the outer middle lamella. ... 

The singularity described above is cut off at the minimal value of x x - D, where D is the interfibrillar distance. Thus the stress or the ultimate fiber is ... 

With all the above in mind, fibers and waveguides became a large field of research. There is often more than one solution to any given application and each solution is partially covering the requirements of the ultimate fiber. 

Recent developments in s5mthesis and assembling CNTs into continuous fibers have opened the doors to more widespread research in the effort to develop the ultimate fiber (see Section 5.4.7). When subjected to high pressrue, some of the bonds can convert to sp bonds, which may provide a means for cross-linking the CNT fibers into a super-strong fabric—carbon threads joined by diamonds. 

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