Direct Observation of Agglomerated Powder Structure in Slurry Using an Optical Microscopy

Direct observation technique for agglomerate structure of alumina powder in aqueous slurry was developed using an optical microscopy with a transmission mode. In this technique, the slurry was trapped between two glasses with an aperture of 100 ƒÊm and the transmitted optical image which reflected the structure of powder agglomerates in the slurry was captured. This technique is effective for examining largescale heterogeneity in slurry with the solid concentration up to about 10vol%.