Protocol for Identification and Assessment of Natural and Synthetic Textile Fibers

Proper identification of textile materials is essential, as people use textiles for clothing and shelter, dental and medical devices, protective firefighting, or even military clothing. There have been several developments regarding fiber identification using instruments such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, or electron microscopy. However, the traditional methods are prevalent as they are the cheapest alternative. In the present paperwork, an accelerated weathering test was conducted on two different textile materials – cotton (natural fiber) and polypropylene (synthetic fiber). Alternating cycles of UV exposure, along with humidity and relatively high temperatures were employed for the weathering test. In order to evaluate the degradation degree of the two fibers, the results were compared and investigated using non-destructive and micro-destructive analysis techniques such as Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), to evaluate the surface modifications of the fibers, and colorimetry, to quantify the color changes. In addition, Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) indicated the modifications of functional groups that occurred after the weathering test. A non-destructive technique – X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) was also performed to obtain information about the crystalline structure. The obtained information will be used for cultural heritage studies.