Non-destructive Blended Fibre Analysis from Forensic Perspective

Abstract

The increasing use of fibre blends in clothing requires effective characterisation methods. Fibre analysts have often relied on the methods developed for single fibres to characterise fibre blends. This study was thus carried out using light microscopy and infrared spectroscopy to characterise binary-blended specimens and to evaluate the effectiveness of these tools on blended fibres. The blended samples were successfully characterised with the application of stereomicroscope, polarized light microscope (PLM), fluorescence microscope and attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). PLM was more effective in discovering the presence of fibre blends compared to other techniques used in this work. Stereomicroscope allowed preliminary screening while fluorescence microscope provided useful information in fibre discrimination. High correlations (>80%) with combined infrared spectra of individual fibre components were reached for most blended samples. Therefore, light microscopy (stereo, polarizing and fluorescence) and infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) are recommended for the effective characterisation of fibre blends.