Orientation Map and Birefringence Detection of CNC Fibers Using Image Processing Techniques

Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) fibers have been applied in numerous areas with characteristics of low cost, light weight, nanoscale and strong mechanical strengths. It can be used as strengthening construction materials with a high stiffness which is comparable to steel. Many of the cellulose derivatives are anisotropic which can display birefringence patterns. It is important to detect the orientation and the birefringence for characterizing the structure of CNC fibers. In this paper, we describe the numerical implementation for obtaining fiber orientation map using their scattered light distribution and detecting birefringence by calculating their mean intensity at various rotation angle.