On the correlation between diffuse reflectance spectra and particle size of BaSO4 powder under heating and modifying with SiO2 nanoparticles

Abstract The paper focuses on the first attempt at investigating the effect of high-temperature modification with SiO2 nanoparticles on the diffuse reflectance spectra within 0.2–2.2 μm and on the particle-size distribution of barium sulphate powders. It has been found that there exists the correlation between changes in diffuse reflectance spectra and particle size distribution during heating and modifying BaSO4 micropowders with SiO2 nanoparticles. By high-temperature heating (800 °C) of BaSO4 micropowder and by deposition of SiO2 nanoparticles (C = 1 wt%), one can increase the reflectance capacity of BaSO4 powder. Additionally, it is shown that SiO2 nanoparticles deposited onto the surface block the formation of BaSO4 micropowder granules.