Powders
Jet Spraying
Jet spraying is another method that can be used. The jet spraying device is comprised of a hollow Plexiglass tube with a perpendicular hole drilled into its side. The tube bore is 15 mm and the drilled hole is 10 mm.
- The powder is introduced into the air stream through the side hole.
- Particles that are entrained in a stream of compressed air are sprayed onto the carbon tape-covered aluminum mount.
- The air driven particles spread into a pattern after leaving the tube.
An adequate distribution of particles is routinely achieved when the specimen mount is placed at a distance of 10 cm from the tube end. This is a good technique for particle counting in image analysis, as few particles are found that touch each other. The technique could, however, result in preferential orientation of the particles and/or may lead to a misrepresentation of the particle distribution. That is to say, very fine particles may not be represented on the final mount in the same proportion to the initial size distribution.
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