Study on Pulp Fibers and Paper Morphology by ESEM and LTSEM

The ESEM could be used in investigating the fibrous networks developed during handsheet-forming processes with the exception of the stages relating to the actual dispersion of the fibers and the drying of formed sheets. Also the cross-sectional images of swollen fibers were generated with the ESEM but the information given by the images was rarely fresh compared to the CLSM images. The LTSEM was extremely useful in generating images of the microfibrillar structure of a wet fiber with great resolution. However, pretreatment required in the LTSEM chamber was somewhat tedious due to the time consumed in sublimation of ice and sputter coating. For observation of lamellar structure of a hydrated fiber, the LTSEM exhibited greatly detailed structure with high resolution. Finally ESEM and LTSEM should be used in a finite field such as observation of surface morphology in detail.