The ultrastructure of wood fibre surfaces as shown by a variety of microscopical methods - a review

A review of the current literature on the surface ultrastructure of wood fibres has been carried out. The work reviews electron microscope techniques past and present that are being and have been applied in wood, pulp and paper research. Artefacts associated with specimen preparation techniques and microscope types are briefly described. Although electron and atomic force microscopy have been successfully employed in wood research, specific knowledge on the surface morphological ultrastructure of wood fibres remains poor. Typical illustrations of ultrastructural details of wood fibres obtained by means of TEM, SEM, FE-SEM and AFM are presented.