Degree of Mixing Analyses of Concentrated Suspensions by Electron Probe and X-Ray Diffraction

Abstract

Abstract Two x-ray based techniques involving energy-dispersive analysis and diffractometry were introduced to the analyses of the degree of mixedness, i.e. the “goodness of mixing” of concentrated suspensions. A hydroxyl terminated polybutadene matrix was mixed with aluminum and ammonium sulfate. In the analysis, the ratio of the relative volume fractions of the two solid components was used as the basis of the analytical evaluation. Both characterization techniques are capable of determining the relative volume fraction of the two solid components as a representative measurement of the distributive mixing efficiency and both are sensitive to the scale of examination. The introduced techniques should be useful in the better definition of the degree of mixedness as well as in resolving differences in mixing efficiencies of various mixers used in processing of concentrated suspensions.