Study of heterogeneous suspensions:: A new quantitative approach coupling laser granulometry and UV-vis spectrophotometry

The aim of this work is to propose a complementary approach, in order to study heterogeneous fractions from papermaking industries, strongly differing in chemical nature, size and shape of particles. This approach is based on two optical methods: UV-vis spectrophotometry and laser granulometry. Heterogeneity of fractions, especially related to particle size, increases difficulty to perform an analytical approach over a large particle size scale. Methodology is developed on model mixtures in order to highlight limitations, either for a qualitative or a quantitative control, in so far as quantification efficiency could depend on mass transfer phenomena. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.