Characterization of irregular seeds on gibbsites precipitated from caustic aluminate solutions
(School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China)
Abstract: The irregular surface of seeds on which gibbsites are precipitated from caustic aluminate solutions, was investigated according to the fractal theory. Two kinds of fractal dimensions were used to characterize these irregularity. Box-dimension and spectral dimension are based on the SEM images of seeds and diffusive dynamic equation of the precipitation respectively. Both these two dimensions are affected by the reaction temperature, evolved with different reaction conditions and can reflect the influence of irregularity of seeds on the precipitation rate. Box dimension is fit for the characterization of the irregular morphology of seeds, while spectral dimension can explain the fractal dynamic behavior.
Key words: gibbsite; fractal theory; box-dimension; spectral dimension; caustic aluminate solution; fracted dynamic behavior