Morphological characterisation of gibbsite and alumina

By combining visualisation by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), optical microscopy (OM) with aniline as an immersion liquid and semiautomated image analysis procedures, the external and internal structures of different types of gibbsite and alumina particles have been characterised. These techniques are complementary to other methods such as BET for alumina or mercury porosimetry for gibbsite: relations were established between the individual morphological and structural characteristics of the tested powders (shape, degree of mosaicity, structure homogeneity) and the global information provided by BET and mercury porosimetry.