Characterizing the Structure of Fumed Pigments using the concepts of fractal geometry

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Abstract
Many commercially important pigments such as titanium dioxide and carbonblack are produced as fumes from a combustion process. The fuming process generates open structured agglomerates conforming to a morphology predicated by physical considerations. For this reason widely different chemical pigments often manifest common physical structure. This structure can be characterized using the concepts of fractal geometry. In this communication the potential usefulness and physical significance of descriptive parameters of the agglomerate structure of fumed pigments based on the concepts of fractal geometry are explored. Similar structures present in high energy ceramic powders are discussed and the potential importance of fractal dimension parameters for the prediction of the physical behaviour of powders is outlined.