The purpose of this work was to develop analytical techniques for structural characterization of cellulosic fibers. To establish a relationship between the two methods that determine crystallinity index, three varieties of cotton (IAC 17, IAC 19, and IAC 20) and fibers of viscose, rami and rami chemical treated were used. Two empirical methods, x-ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy, were used to evaluate the crystallinity index. Differentiation of IAC cotton varieties was possible with the crystallinity index obtained by infrared spectroscopy; but, not with the x-ray diffraction method. The crystallinity index obtained by these two methods had no correlation with physical properties of cotton fibers. When cellulose fibers with different treatment were assayed, there was a high correlation (r = 0.95) between the two methodologies used for the determination of crystallinity index.
X-ray diffraction; infrared spectroscopy; crystallinity index