Analysis of Diffraction Line Profile from Silk Fibers Using Various Distribution Functions

Microstructural parameters of varieties of silk fibers, like C.nichi, Pure Mysore Silk (PMS), Hosa Mysore (HM) and Nistari, have been determined by Fourier method of Warren using wide angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) data. Exponential, Lognormal, Reinhold functions for the column length distributions have been used for the determination of microstructural parameters. The goodness of the fit and the consistency of the results suggest the exponential distribution gives much better results in the analysis of fiber diffraction even though lognormal distribution has been widely used to estimate the similar stacking faults in metal oxide compounds. Estimated micro-structural parameters have been compared with parameters of other silk fibers like, Hosa Mysore, Pure Mysore Silk (PMS) and Nistari as a comparison of their molecular maps shows a wide contrast between them.