I would like to disperse dry powders on a slide for qualitative analysis using light microscopy.
Is there a any standard dispersion technique by way of which dry powders can be uniformly dispersed, with minimum clusters?
Dry powder particles tend to stick together. In order to spread them out you need a dispersant often an evaporating liquid like water or an alcohol is used for this.
Mix the powder and liquid well (stir) and poor the mixture over a flat surface and wait (or help the evaporation process by heating and ventilation)
Just to add the answer posted by Dr. Carton. Technically, dissolve your dried powder (about 0.5 g) in a aquadest/ethanol (about 100 ml) and add 1-2 small drops of liquid detergent (acted as a dispersant) and stir them using an ultrasonic bath for 30 min at room temp. The rest step is as above. Hope this helps.
Dear Vaibhav,
try to disperse your powder in a small amount of Canada's baume (a few drops). Then put it in between two glass slides. This is ready for optical microscopy (crossed polarizers) . Canada's baume is usually employed in petrography and mineralogy.
All the best !
Dino
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