Stabilization of particles

Polymer brushes were found to minimize adsorption of proteins by the soft or steric repulsion of the flexible yet immobihzed macromolecules [179], although a generally valid explanation of the protein resistant properties of some hydrophihc brushes is not available. A similar explanation can be formulated for the improvement of the colloidal stability of particle suspensions, when polymer brush-type layers are bound to small particles. This and other intriguing features of polymer brushes prompted a remarkable experimental and theoretical research activity in order to understand and exploit the unique properties of polymer brushes. 

Regardless of these short-ranged cohesive forces, the formation and stability of particle clusters in a fluidized bed appears to be a multistep process [27], Some shear (as in two particles grazing each other) may be needed to promote collisional cooling, but less than that perhaps in the dense emnlsion of a fluidized bed. Perhaps the lower particle concentration in a babble provides the environment where clnster stability is promoted for the smaller particles. Collisional stresses in the emnlsion may be too high and the cohesive forces may be too low to have long-lasting particle clusters. Indeed, the only evidence of particle clnsters in fluidized beds offered here is that the clusters are located near the bubbles. 

This paper deals with the copolymerization of styrene with acrylamide and its derivatives in emulsifier-free aqueous media. It is expected that the effects of acrylamides on the nucleation and stabilization of particles differ from those of ionic comonomers. The reaction mechanism, the characteristics of the latices prepared, and the effect of the properties of acrylamides on them are discussed. 

Prasanna K. Jog, Valeriy V. Ginzburg, Rakesh Srivastava, Jeffrey D. Weinhold, Shekhar Jain, and Walter G. Chapman, Application of Mesoscale Field-Based Models to Predict Stability of Particle Dispersions in Polymer Melts... 

Chandrakanth, J. S. Effects of Ozone on the Colloidal Stability of Particles Coated with Natural Organic Matter. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, 1994. 

The modem process of electrodeposition can thus be described as a combination of three basic elements (a) Electrophoresis - migration of charged polymer particles to metal surface (b) Deposition - colloidal de-stabilization of particles at the metal-bath interface and (c) Insulation - formation of an adherent, non-conductive layer of resin on the metal surface. The last named element is responsible for the high throwing power which can be achieved with the electrocoating process. 

The observation of Weilenmann et al. (1989) (see Figure 14.6) on some Swiss hard water lakes shows that two important factors affecting the stability of particles in lakes are (1) [Ca 1 and (2) organic matter (like humic substances). Ca destabilizes and organic matter stabilizes colloidal particles in lakes. 

Narayanan and El-Sayed investigated the effect of the electron-transfer reaction between ferricyanide and thiosulfate on the stability of particle shape [39,40]. The change in shape of the nanoparticle was time-dependent this change was in the form of a thermodynamic rounding of the particle into a sphere due to the dissolution of platinum atoms from the comers and edges of the tetrahedral and cubic platinum nanoparticles. Figure 18.3 demonstrates that the tetrahedral particle evolves into a distorted tetrahedral particle after one reaction cycle (Fig. 18.3a and b). For the cubic platinum nanoparticles (Fig. 18.3c), the rate of dissolution of platinum atoms was slower, and distorted cubic platinum nanoparticles (Fig. 18.3d) were dominant after two reaction cycles. 

The focus here is on the effects of dissolved natural organic matter (NOM) on the colloidal stability of particles in aquatic systems and, in particular, on the importance of the macromolecular nature of NOM in these effects. The approach used here has three components (1) modeling studies with mathematical polyelectrolytes, surfaces, and solvents (2) laboratory studies with well-characterized polyelectrolytes and particles and (3) laboratory studies with aquatic NOM, also using well-characterized particles. 

Let us consider the colloidal stability of particles as ones view moves from a mountain spring to a river, through an estuaiy, and into the ocean. Solid particles and natural organic matter are everywhere in aquatic environments. Here we consider that NOM adsorbs on particles and affects their colloidal stability. We discuss the origins of this stability a long the riverrun (I). Our conclusions are based on results with both mathematical and laboratory chemicals (2). Speculation is extensive. 

Filler particles can be modified to decrease flocculation. Kaolin particles modified by a graft of poly(ethylene oxide) showed an increase in the upper critical flocculation temperature. Stabilization of particle dispersion was due to an enhanced steric stabilization." ... 

Three emission bands (a, p and y in the order of decreasing energy) are observed in CH2CI2 solution and are found to be the emission from the excited state of 1, from the excited state of a solute-solvent complex and from a relaxed twisted excited state of the solute-solvent complex, respectively. Model compound studies show that squaraine forms strong solute-solvent complexes with alcoholic solvent molecules. Analogous complexation process between 1 and the OH groups in PVF is also shown to occur. A model for the stabilization of particles of 1 in polymer solution is put forward where we propose that the stabilization mechanism is a steric effect achieved by adsorption of PVF macromolecules onto particles of 1 via the formation of the PVF 1 complex. 

The influence of the cations and anions has been discussed separately with the solution properties and reactions in the main focus. It has, however, been known over 100 years that anions play a crucial role for the stabilization and coagulation of colloids. More recently, the contribution of anions on the stabilization of particles, biocolloids, and bubbles has received renewed attention. - In these papers, it has been pointed out that there exists a collaborative interaction between cations and anions upon adsorption of one of the complexes from solution. At high concentrations this effect renders the simple indifferent ions specific and selective to each other. It is also seen as a dependency on the acid-base pair chosen for the regulation of the pH. This effect certainly needs to be added as an extension to (correction of) the DLVO theory. However, as shown in this paper, it is just as probable that the anion and cation collaborate during the adsorption and formation of gels and precipitates at the surface. The presence of such mixed phases has been confirmed experimentally, e.g., during the formation of hydroxoapatite in silica gel layers. ... 

The second part is devoted to adsorption of polyelectrolytes at interfaces and to flocculation and stabilization of particles in adsorbing polymer solutions. A recent theory of the electrostatic adsorption barrier, some typical experimental results, and new approaches for studying the kinetics of polyelectrolyte adsorption are presented in the first chapter of this part. In the following chapters, results are collected on the electrical and hydrodynamic properties of colloid-polyelectrolyte surface layers, giving information on the structure of adsorbed layers and their influence on the interactions between colloidal particles examples and mechanisms are analyzed of polyelectrolyte-induced stabilization and fragmentation of colloidal aggregates ... 

PVP polymer, the decrease of electrokinetic potential above pH 9.0 disappeared, resulting in an increase of the stability of particles dispersed in the alkaline pH region. 

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