Study of the relationship between particle sizes of polymer powders and their radiative properties

Abstract

The reflectance of a surface considered as smooth relative to the wavelength mainly consists of a specular component while for a rough surface, the reflectance is composed of both specular and diffuse (or volume) components, their relative importance depending on the nature of the reflecting material. The present samples consist of polypropylene powders and the influence of particle size on total and diffuse reflectance is discussed over two wavelength ranges: 0.25–2.5 and 2.5–15.5 μm. The results of this study indicate firstly, that in the first wavelength range, the areas of the absorbance peaks increase while they decrease for the other wavelength range with particle size and secondly, that the reflectance values calculated for the wavelength range 0.25–2.5 μm, with respect to a blackbody at 5800 K, vary with particle size.