Examination of Silk Fibers from a Deep Ocean Site: SEM, EDS, & DSC
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Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. Vol. 462 ©1997 Materials Research Society
EXPERIMENT Materials From a preliminary study of the entire collection of textile artifacts recovered from the S.S. Central America, items containing silk were identified. To avoid the confounding effect of dye, the three textiles selected for this study were those that appeared to be undyed. For comparison purposes, modern undyed silk obtained from Testfabrics Inc. (Testfabrics Style #601), and three undyed historic silk textiles from the period 1860-1880 obtained from the Historic Costume and Textiles Collection, Department of Consumer and Textile Sciences, The Ohio State University, were also studied. Small samples of fibers were taken from inconspicuous places in the artifacts (e.g., accessible unfinished seam allowances), so as not to affect the appearance of the garments in future display. Table I describes the artifacts used in this study.
Marine silk Marine silk Marine silk Historic silk Historic silk Historic silk
Modern silk
Table I. Silk artifacts sampled. Artifact description Identificn. # Wool trousers with silk placket 29054 Wool undershirt with silk placket 33707 Wool undershirt with silk placket 29049 Cotton skirt with silk underskirt 1986.145. l b Silk underskirt 1986.145.1c Silk skirt 1988.3 18.88b Testfabrics #601 Undyed silk crepe
Sampling area Placket seam allowance Placket seam allowance Placket seam allowance Side seam allowance Hem seam allowance Pleat searn allowance
Methods Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS): A JEOL JSM 820 SEM, and an Oxford Instruments Group Link Analytical eXL with a high resolution Pentafet detector and windowless capability were used. Fibers were mounted on carbon planchettes with carbon tape and sputter-coated with carbon. An accelerating voltage of 20 kV was used and the instrument was operated in the secondary electron mode. Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC): A TA Model 9100 DSC unit was used in the study. Non-hermetically sealed aluminum pans and an inert nitrogen atmosphere were used. The temperature range was from ambient to 3750 C and the heating rate was 5' per minute. The sample size varied between 5 and 10 mgs. To maximize contact between the pan and the silk, small circular swatches of fabric were placed flat in the pan. RESULTS SEM: Modern silk fibers (Fig. I) exhibited smooth rounded surfaces, and almost no surface deposits. The historic silks not exposed to the marine environment (Fig. 2 & 3) display fewer surface defects and less surface deposits in comparison with the marine silk fibers. Though the three marine silk artifacts did not all exhibit the same extent of degradation nor the same morphological characteristics, they were consistently more degraded than the historic silks from the same era. The various surface features observed in the marine silks include: transverse and longitudinal cracking (Fig. 4 & 5); peeling of fibrils from the surface (Fig. 6); fiber collapse (Fig. 7); and extensive surface deposits (Fig. 8). Bo
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