DETERMINATION OF PARTICLE SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN FLUIDS USING PHOTON CORRELATION SPECTROSCOPY.

Photon correlation spectroscopy (PCS) has been applied to various systems of particles suspended in a fluid. Computer simulations were used to analyse CONTIN, a program for the numerical inversion of the experimental data. Measurements were performed on a spectrometer equipped with a digital correlator. Various suspensions of polysterene latex spheres differing both in size and size distribution were prepared in double distilled water. Further, some samples provided by an external institution without prior specification were analysed. Diffusivity measurements on submicron DES (di-2-ethylhexyl sebacate) particles in nitrogen were also performed. The results obtained demonstrate the strengths and the limitations of PCS as a method of determining particle size distributions in particle fluid systems.