Metal Powder

In this note, we will briefly explore the history of powder metallurgy and then examine the importance of powder quality to the production of nanomaterials.

Determination of specific surface area of metal powders is an important parameter in the field of powder metallurgy. In this note, we demonstrate the use of Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) technique to measure another critical metal powder property: specific surface area (SSA).

Virtually any metal can be made into a powder through processes including atomization, electrolysis, chemical reduction, and size comminution. The metal powder can then be used to fabricate parts from simple to complex shape. The technique and study of these processes is known as powder metallurgy, a field of study well acquainted with particle characterization. The size distribution and shape of the powder metal particles influences the physical properties of the parts created.