Polydisperse particle size characterization by ultrasonic attenuation spectroscopy in the micrometer range

The theoretical advantages of ultrasonic attenuation spectroscopy for particle size are currently not fully utilized. Especially in the region of larger particles, there is a lack of experimental confirmation of applicable models which may be used to infer particle sizes from measured attenuation spectra. With the present work, an attempt is made to supply experimental data, obtained with a commercially available ultrasonic attenuation spectrometer, and model calculations, which are based on the resonant scattering theory. It is shown that measured attenuation results for various combinations of disperse and continuous phase for both polydisperse emulsions and suspensions are reproducible by calculation. The approach is further examined for suspensions of porous particles. Here, the resonant scattering approach is combined with the Biot model for poroelasticity to obtain attenuation results with several fractions of titania aggregates, differing in particle size and pore diameter. The results indicate that the theory of resonant scattering is a valid approach if applied to particle size characterization in the large particle limit.