Study of cotton fiber surface after thermal processing in the vacuum chamber by the method of scanning electron microscopy

The article presents the results of a study of the surface of cotton fibers before and after thermal processing in a vacuum chamber by scanning electron microscopy. It has been established that various factors affect the structural and physicochemical properties of an ultrathin composite material based on ultra-dispersed carbon fiber. In this work, the microstructures of an ultrathin composite material obtained based on ultrafine cotton fibers were investigated and a chemical analysis of these fibers was carried out. Based on chemical analysis, it was found that the content of heat-treated cotton fiber is 98.62% during heat treatment (from 1000 to 1200 °C). Along with this, the resulting powder had carbon fibers with sizes from 2.42 to 9.18 μm, and thus ultra-thin fibers have high chemical activity. It is shown that heat treatment of the fiber leads to molecular bonding of the outer layer of the cotton fiber.