Comparison of various particle sizing techniques

Particle size distribution and powder agglomeration for Alcoa A16 and for Sumitomo AKS-53B and SKP-53 α-Al2O3 powders are analyzed scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission scanning microscopy (TEM), gas adsorption, X-ray sedigraph and laser particle sizing. Microscopy is a sole absolute method to observe directly the individual primary particles on the particle size distribution, shape, aspect and morphology. Although SEM and TEM can provide useful information for powder agglomeration, the results obtained are qualitative only, and is difficult to distinguish between the soft and the hard agglomerate in most cases. Laser particle sizing can obtain results in a few minutes, compared with conventional X-ray sedigraph in several hours.