Comparison of NIR Methods for Measuring Cotton Fiber Maturity and Fineness

Maturity and fineness are important cotton fiber properties, as they can impact the fiber’s downstream processability and dye performance.  Maturity and fineness are often indicated indirectly by the fiber’s micronaire.  Maturity and fineness can be measured directly, but most of these methods are slow and/or require expensive laboratory-only equipment.  Much interest has been shown in new direct measurements of fiber maturity and fineness that could be applicable for both laboratory and at-line/field use.  A program was implemented to determine the feasibility of using NIR systems (analyzers and measurement methods) to monitor fiber maturity and fineness in the laboratory.  A well-defined cotton sample set was measured on multiple bench-top and portable NIR systems in a conditioned laboratory, and their results compared.  NIR instrumental, sampling, and operational procedures and protocols were determined.  Very good spectral agreement was observed between the NIR units.  The NIR measurement takes less than 3 minutes per sample, and no sample preparation is required.  The results with the bench-top and portable NIR units for maturity and fineness are presented and compared to other maturity and fineness measurement results.