INVESTIGATIONS OF THE CHEMICAL HOMOGENEITY OF SOLIDS

Chemical homogeneity is a relative property of solid-state materials; it depends not only on their ultimate purposes, but also on the parameters of the analytical procedure applied in the investigation. These features are often given inadequate attention in the characterization of solid materials. A statistical model for representative sampling is used here as the starting point to derive relationships which demonstrate quantitatively the increasing rigour of the homogeneity test with increasing spatial resolution and precision of the analytical procedure. It is also shown that chemical homogeneity can be confirmed at a calculated risk, when the tests do not show the material to be significantly inhomogeneous and when maximum permissible deviations in concentration can be given for a practical application. © 1979.