A Microstructural Investigation of Gas Atomized Raney Type Al-27.5 at.%Ni Catalyst Precursor Alloys

Quantitative image analysis has been used to investigate the phase composition of gas atomized powders of a Raney type Ni catalyst precursor alloys of composition Al-27.5 at.% Ni in the powder size range 150-212 μm. We find that there are considerable variations in phase composition both between powders from the same batch and as a function distance from the particle surface within individual particles. Such variations may have significant implications for the future production and uptake of such catalysts, including the necessity for post-production crushing of gas atomized powders. Models are proposed to account for both variations.