Immersion liquid techniques in solid particle characterization: A review.

Chemical, physical and optical properties of small solid particles are widely utilized in our everyday merchandises. For example, tailored particles embedded in paper or cosmetics improve the visual appearance of the products substantially. As a consequence of the small size of particles, one particle characterization tool is a microscope. It may provide e.g. the particle size, shape and the refractive index. The determination of the refractive index, using the microscope, typically exploited the so-called immersion liquid method. In this review, we provide an overview of non-imaging immersion matching techniques including immersion liquid set, the temperature, the wavelength, the double variation and the liquid evaporation methods. The basic features, benefits and limitations of each technique have been described followed by examples of potential applications in a quality monitoring of particle suspensions and colloids in industry. Crown