Dispersion suspension stability

FIGURE 8.27 The comparison of finely dispersed suspensions stability. 

Suspensions of oil in water (32), such as lanolin in wool (qv) scouring effluents, are stabilized with emulsifiers to prevent the oil phase from adsorbing onto the membrane. Polymer latices and electrophoretic paint dispersions are stabilized using surface-active agents to reduce particle agglomeration in the gel-polarization layer. 

Suspension Polymerization. Suspension polymerization is carried out in small droplets of monomer suspended in water. The monomer is first finely dispersed in water by vigorous agitation. Suspension stabiUzers act to minimize coalescence of droplets by forming a coating at the monomer—water interface. The hydrophobic—hydrophilic properties of the suspension stabiLizers ate key to resin properties and grain agglomeration (89). 

Ether carboxylates are used not only in powdered detergents but in liquid laundry detergents for their hard water stability, lime soap dispersibility, and electrolyte stability they improve the suspension stability and rheology of the electrolyte builder [130,131]. Formulations based particularly on lauryl ether carboxylate + 4.5 EO combined with fatty acid salt and other anionic surfactants are described [132], sometimes in combination with quaternary compounds as softeners [133,163]. Ether carboxylates show improved cleaning properties as suds-controlling agents in formulations with ethoxylated alkylphenol or fatty alcohol, alkyl phosphate esters or alkoxylate phosphate esters, and water-soluble builders [134]. 

A cosolvent, typically ethanol, may be used to bring drug into solution. A small number of surfactants (sorbitan trioleate, oleic acid, and lecithin) may be dispersed in propellant systems and can aid in suspension stability and in valve lubrication. 

Dispersants function through various mechanisms. For water-based systems the preferred mechanism is stabilisation by ionic repulsion. A repulsion force layer is formed around the mineral particle. To maintain the suspension stability, the thickness of this layer around each particle has to be increased with increasing particle size. Layer decay is more frequent with the use of small particles, which results in higher proneness to partial flocculation. Also a uniform layer is necessary for effective stabilisation of all dispersed particles. AMP-95 helps to achieve all these requirements. 

Lastly, particle engineering as a method to improve suspension stability may be an alternative. Weers et al. and Dellamary et al. describe the use of hollow porous particles to decrease the attractive forces between particles in suspension (43,51). The similarities between the particles and the dispersing medium (the propellant system enters and fills the porous particles) reduces the effective Hamaker constant that corresponds to forces of attraction, and also makes the density difference between the propellant and the particles smaller. The FPF of these aerosols was reported to be around 70%. 

The role of turbulence in assisting with suspension stability is described in Section 10.3.1. For example, a rule of thumb for the role of turbulence in maintaining sufficient suspension stability for mineral flotation is the one-second criterion which states that the particles in a suspension are sufficiently well dispersed for flo-... 

Modern motor oil provides an example of some of the ways in which a number of colloidal and interfacial considerations come into play adhesion and lubrication, detergency, dispersion and suspension stabilization, foam inhibition, and viscosity and its temperature dependence. In addition to providing lubrication, a motor oil is expected to prevent corrosion and aid engine cooling and cleaning. Table 8.1 shows how a number of additives are blended in to help the oil achieve these functions [491]. 

Practical flotation processes, however, take place under conditions of turbulence. Turbulent flow, as opposed to laminar flow (see Section 6.1), is characterized by rapid, almost random, fluctuations in flow velocity. Turbulence helps keep the solid particles suspended, helps disperse the injected air phase into bubbles, and helps induce particle-bubble collisions and attachments. With regard to the role of turbulence in mineral flotation, a rule of thumb for suspension stability is the one-second criterion which states that the particles in a suspension are sufficiently well dispersed for flotation if individual particles do not remain settled at the bottom of the flotation vessel for longer than one second [53]. 

The adsorption of surfactants at the liquid/air interface, which results in surface tension reduction, is important for many applications in industry such as wetting, spraying, impaction, and adhesion of droplets. Adsorption at the liquid/liquid interface is important in emulsification and subsequent stabilization of the emulsion. Adsorption at the solid/liquid interface is important in wetting phenomena, preparation of solid/liquid dispersions, and stabilization of suspensions. Below a brief description of the various adsorption phenomena is given. 

Special interest is devoted to graft copolymers in which the backbone is hydro-phobic and the grafts are hydrophilic (or vice versa). These materials are efficient water suspension stabilizers, and give rise to stable emulsions in water (and even sometimes to microemulsions in the presence of a third constituent). They can be used in many instances whenever oil-in-water or water-in-oil dispersions are needed and the number of applications is steadily increasing. 

Particle interactions resulting in aggregates of particles will adversely affect dispersion. Special surface treatments are provided to reduce these aggregation forces and achieve higher loadings and better suspension stability with less effect on viscosity. These surface treatments can be applied directly to the filler, and many grades of treated fillers are commercially available. 

A ceramic suspension consists of ceramic powder, a solvent, often a dispersant to stabilize the ceramic powder ag2iinst a omeration, a polymeric binder to provide green strength after the green body has been dried, and often a plasticizer to lower the glass transition of the polymeric binder. All these additives must be compatible so the ceramic suspension has the desirable properties needed for green body fabrication. Many of these formulations used in industry are very secretive. 

Spherical beads that can be expanded into foam under the influence of heat or steam are produced directly by suspension polymerization in the presence of blowing agent. The term suspension polymerization describes a process in which water-insoluble monomers are dispersed as liquid droplets with suspension stabilizer and vigorous stirring to produce polymer particles as a dispersed solid phase. Initiators used in suspension polymerization are oil-soluble. The polymerization takes place within the monomer droplets. The kinetic mechanism of the suspension process is considered to be a free radical, water-cooled microbulk polymerization [1]. 

Suspension stabilizing agents are present in the suspension to obtain and stabilize a desired droplet distribution of the dispersed phase. The suspension stabilizer has to be soluble or wetted in/by water. The particle size can cover... 

Chen and Soucie (96) showed that treatment of soy protein isolate with hydro-xylated lecithin lowered the isoelectric point, increased electrophoretic mobility, and signihcantly increased protein dispersibility and suspension stability. Nielsen (97) investigated the interaction of peroxidized phospholipids with several proteins under N2. His findings demonstrated a covalent attachment of phospholipids to proteins whose molecular size is increased. 

In any multiphase liquid, stability is a paramount concern. Thermodynamics drives clumping of dispersed components, and this is sometimes enhanced by flow. However, tricks for stabilizing suspensions are as old as the inks of Egypt. Electrostatic and steric stabilization are the most common. By matching the dielectric prc effie s, sdrrie pafticle-fluid combinations can be found that are inherently stable. A more detailed discussion of suspension stabilization is deferred to Chapter 7. 

Sedimentation ratio is often used to assess suspension stability. Byron reported the sedimentation ratios for a 1% sodium fluoresein suspension formulation with different amounts of surfactant (sorbitan trioleate) after standing for 20 days at room temperature. The suspension formulation with the lowest sedimentation ratio had thebest-flocculated system. However, all formulations were easily redispersible one complete revolution of the container was sufficient to produce a homogeneous dispersion. There was no clear difference in the times taken to reach apparent sedimentation equilibrium. Physical stability of the formulation was determined according to ... 

The miscible monomers, ethenylbenzene (styrene) and diethenylben-zene (divinylbenzene, DVB), undergo a free radical induced copolymerization reaction initiated by a benzoyl peroxide catalyst. The exothermic reaction is carried out in an aqueous suspension whereby the mixed monomers are immiscibly dispersed as spherical droplets throughout the reacting medium resulting in discreet beads of copolymer being formed. Correct reaction conditions and the use of suspension stabilizers enable the particle size distribution of the... 

Suspension stability is governed by the same forces as in other disperse systems such as emulsions. There are differences, however, as coalescence obviously cannot occur in suspensions the adsorption of stabilising polymers and surfactants may also occur in a different... 

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