| Abstract: | The as-formed structure of wet-spun acrylic fiber from the sodium thiocyanate system has been probed, exploiting a number of techniques developed in the membrane industry. The use of flat membrane geometry in the study of wet-spun fibers has been proven to be valid. The calculation of average pore dimensions in the surface of acrylic membrances by a hydraulic permeability method has agreed well with microscopic examination. The skin layer present on both fibers and membrances has been shown to be structurally isotropic for the extruded fiber by a novel polarized infrared microspectroscopy technique. The consequences of this in downstream processing are discussed. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. |
