J O U R N A L OF M A T E R I A L S SCIENCE 15 (1980) - L E T T E R S
Marshall, J. W. Faust and C. E. Ryan (University of
South Carolina Press, Columbia, South Carolina,
1974) p. 222.
5. D. J. SMITH, N. W. JEPPS and T. F. PAGE, jr,
Microscopy 114 (1978) 1.
6. D.R.CLARKE,J.Amer. Ceram. Soc. 60(1977)539.
7. N. W. JEPPS and T. F. PAGE, J. Microscopy 116
(1979) 159.
8. Idem, ibid. 119 (1980) to be published.
9. Idem. J. Amer. Ceram. Soc. (1980) to be published.
10. N.W. JEPPS, Ph.D. Thesis, University of Cambridge,
1979.
11. S. S. SHINOZAKI, J. E. NOAKES and H. SATO, J.
Amer. Ceram. Soc. 61 (1978) 237.
12. M.G.S. NAYLOR (Dept. of Metallurgy and Mater.
Sci., Univ. of Cambridge), Private Communication.
*Present address: The British Rail Research and Development Division, The Railway Technical Centre, London Road,
Derby.
A dielectric s t u d / o f cellulose fibres
It appears from the literature that little work has
so far been reported on the dielectric properties of
cellulose fibres. Cellulose is one of the most
important organic substances and has been sub-
jected to thorough analysis by various techniques
[1-3]. The directional dependence of the properties
of fibres is now of wide interest as a means of pro-
ducing desirable properties by inducing preferred
orientation. A study of the dielectric property is
of importance as it provides a measure of the am-
orphous fraction of the material and is sensitive to
orientation effects, mobility effects and to the
number and interactions of the dipoles partici-
pating. In view of this we have extended our pre-
vious work on electrical anisotropy [4] to the case
of cellulose fibres. The result of measurements
along both the longitudinal and transverse direc-
tions of some natural cellulose fibres are reported.
Natural cellulose fibres of ramie, hemp and jute
were chosen for this study. A study of its crystal-
linity defects, etc., has been reported [5]. These
fibres were first purified and delignified. The
samples were prepared in the same way as reported
earlier [4]. Dielectric measurements were carried
out on a precision capacitance bridge GR716 in
the frequency range l0 s Hz by applying a resonance
curve method.
1856 0022--2461/80/071856--05502.50/0
13. N.W. JEPPS, D. J. SMITH and T. F. PAGE, Acta.
Crystall. A35 (1979) 916.
14. N. W. JEPPS and K. L. SCRIVENER, Unpublished
work.
Received 28 February
and accepted 3 March 1980.
T. F. PAGE, G. R. SAWYER*
Department of Metallurgy and Materials Science,
University o f Cambridge,
Pembroke Street,
Cambridge CB2 3QZ, UK
The results are illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3. It is
found that the dielectric constant and loss factors
are highest for jute, followed by hemp and ramie.
All these fibres possess the same molecular struc-
ture. i.e. cellulose I structure. The difference is
mainly due to differences in the amorphous and
crystalline fractions in the fibres. Thus we can con-
clude that the amorphous fraction is the greatest
in jute, followed by hemp and ramie.
The most interesting features of the results are
a sharp increase of dielectric constant and a fall of
loss factor along the fibre direction, i.e. the longi-
tudinal direction compared to the transverse direc-
tion. This is certainly not due to an increase in
amorphous fraction, as in that case the loss factors
would also increase. It is an established fact that
the crystaUinity is greater along the fibre direction
in these fibres, thus we can conclude that dipoles
are arranged in these molecules along the longi-
tudinal direction, i.e. the chain direction, and the
higher mobility of the dipoles along the longitudi-
nal direction compared to the transverse direction,
is the cause of anisotropy in the fibres.
References
1. H. MARK and A. V. TOBOLSKY, "Physical Chem-
istry of high polymeric systems" (Interscience, New
York, London, 1950).
9 1980 Chapman and Hall Ltd.
JOURNAL OF MATERIALS SCIENCE 15(1980) .LETTERS

JUTE

(a) LONGITUDINAL
300 1'6
@ DIELECTRIC CONSTANT
@ 01 ELECTRIC LOSS

250 1"4

200 1.2 t

z
~< is0 1'0

o o
u
~00 082
c)
LO
J
IJJ LJ
D

50 0'6

I I 0.4
102 10 3 10 4 10 5

FREQUENCY IN CYCLESISEC

JUTE

(b) TRANSVERSE
60 3./.
e DIELECTRIC CONSTANT
I DIELECTRIC LOSS

50 2'9

I 4O
2,4 f

z
< 30 ~'9
7~
g
o
c)
c~ 20 9 1.z ~:

t~
,_J
t~
123
10
0.9

a , 3.4
102 103 10 4 10 5

FREQUENCY IN CYCLES/SEC

Figure 1 Variations of dielectric constants and dielectric losses of jute with frequency along (a) the longitudinal, and
(b) the transverse directions.

1857
JOURNAL OF MATERIALS SCIENCE 15 ( 1 9 8 0 ) .LETTERS

HEMP
1/0 1 1"9

(a) LONGITUDINAL
120 1-7
| DIELECTRIC CONSTANT
9 DIELECTRIC LOSS

100 1"5

l 80

6c
u~
z
o
8
_u
ac 40 3"9 ~
L) c)
klJ w

w
o
2C 0-7

I I 0"5
102 103 104 105
FREQUENCY IN CYCLES/SEC. ~ '
16
HEMP

(b) TRANSVERSE
14 2"z,
GI DIELECTRIC CONSTANT
LOSS

12 2"0

tlo

z g
~- 1"2 ~

g ~
o o

~: 0.8

z, 0"4

i i
102 103 10 4 10 5
FREOUENCY IN CYCLES/ SEC

Figure 2 Variations of dielectric constants and dielectric losses of hemp with frequency along (a) longitudinal, and
(b) the transverse directions.

1858
JOURNAL OF MATERIALS SCIENCE 15(1980) ,LETTERS

7O
RAMIE

(a) LOGITUDINAL
60 ,O ~ - 1"2
| DIELECTRIC CONSTANT

I o. I

Z ~
30 o.6"~
o
O d
u

20 0-4
~) LIJ
IJJ d
.u W
s
10 0"2

I I
102 103 104 105

FREQUENCY IN CYCLES/SEC,

14 1'7
RAMIE

9 (b) TRANSVERSE
12 1"5
O DIELECTRIC CONSTANT
9 DIELECTRIC LOSS

10 1'3

zm s 0.9

o s
_o u

U 4 017 t~
ILl
w
o

2 0-5

I I
102 103 10 z 105

FREQUENCY IN CYCLES/SEC.

Figure 3 Variations of dielectric constants and dielectric losses of ramie with frequency along (a) the longitudinal, and
(b) the transverse directions.

1859
IOURNAL OF MATERIALS SCIENCE 15(1980) ~
2. p.H. HERMANS, "Physics and Chemistry of Cellulose
fibres" (Elsevier, New York, 1949).
3. E. OTT, M. SPURLIN and W.GRAFFLIN, "Cellulose
and Cellulose derivatives" (Interscience, New York,
London, 1954).
4. P.S. MUKHERJEE, A. K. DE and S. BATTACHERJEE
J. Mater. Sci. 13 (1978) 1329.
5. P.S. MUKHERJEE and G. B. MITRA.
Coating structure of metal-coated carbon
fibres
Applications o f coated fibres in preparation of
metal matrix composites are growing at an increas-
ing rate. To obtain a good composite the fibre
should be wetted by the matrix to ensure good
bonding. A coating on carbon fibre can promote
this wetting by the matrix material and also helps
in preventing surface damage during composite
fabrication. Details o f the coating of Cu, Ni and
Co on to carbon fibres b y the cementation process
were described earlier [ 1 , 2 ] . A tow of 1000 fila-
ments, 20 cm long carbon fibres (PAN base) were
heat treated in vacuum ( 1 0 - S T o r r ) a t 700~ for
15rain to remove any coupling agents and
adsorbed layer o f gases. Heat-treated carbon fibres
Figure l Isolated dendritic copper coating on non-heat-
treated unactivated carbon fibre, X 4800.
1860 0022-2461/80/071860-04502.40/0
Received 6 November
and accepted 16 November 1979.
A. K. DUTTA
P. S. MUKHERJEE
G. B. MITRA
School o f Research in X-rays and Structure o f
Matter, Department o f Physics,
Indian Institute o f Technology,
Kharagpur, India, 721302
were then treated in glacial acetic acid to activate
the fibre surface.
These surface activated fibres were immersed in
metal salt solutions o f known amount and concen-
tration. Displacing agents Zn for Cu coating and
Mg for Co and Ni coating were added in the form
of granules to displace the respective metals from
their salt solutions by the cementation p r o c e s s .
Coated fibres were tested individually in a uni-
versal testing machine (Instron). In each batch, 25
to 30 fibres were tested and average strength was
computed. The present note reports the effect of
the concentration o f glacial acetic acid during
coating on the structure of the coating formed on
heat-treated carbon fibre as determined by scan-
ning electron microscopy, and its effect on the
strength o f the coated fibre.
Figure2 Isolated massive crystallite copper coating on
carbon fibre, acetic acid concentration 2vo1%, X 4800.
9 1980 Chapman and Hall Ltd.