Surface potential complexation model

With a chapter on particle-particle interaction (coagulation) the characteristics of particles and colloids as chemical reactants are discussed. Since charge, and in turn the surface potential of the colloids is important in coagulation, it is illustrated how in simple cases the modelling of surface complex formation permits the calculation of surface charge and potential. The role of particle-particle interaction in natural water and soil systems and in water technology (coagulation, filtration, flotation) is exemplified. 

The relative importance of the EDL for reactions other than adsorption is not well understood. Surface complexation models have recently been applied to processes in which adsorption represents the first step in a sequence of reactions. For example, Stumm et al. (22) have applied a model with an EDL component in their studies of the role of adsorption in dissolution and precipitation reactions. The effect of surface charge and potential on precipitation and the... 

One possible solution is to obtain new experimental data, which is independent of co/pH curves. The zeta potential is of course a possibility, but it suffers from the intrinsic indeterminacy of the exact location in the double layer where it occurs. Another possibility is the surface potential, Vo, which will be defined below. Variations of Vo can be measured by using electrolyte/insulator/semiconductor structures. It has been shown by Bousse et al. (14) that the Vo/pH characteristics are determined mainly by the number of charged but uncomplexed surface sites, and are insensitive to complex-ation. This means that combined consideration of tro/pH and Vo/pH characteristics should lead to a more complete and reliable determination of model parameters. 

The main, currently used, surface complexation models (SCMs) are the constant capacitance, the diffuse double layer (DDL) or two layer, the triple layer, the four layer and the CD-MUSIC models. These models differ mainly in their descriptions of the electrical double layer at the oxide/solution interface and, in particular, in the locations of the various adsorbing species. As a result, the electrostatic equations which are used to relate surface potential to surface charge, i. e. the way the free energy of adsorption is divided into its chemical and electrostatic components, are different for each model. A further difference is the method by which the weakly bound (non specifically adsorbing see below) ions are treated. The CD-MUSIC model differs from all the others in that it attempts to take into account the nature and arrangement of the surface functional groups of the adsorbent. These models, which are fully described in a number of reviews (Westall and Hohl, 1980 Westall, 1986, 1987 James and Parks, 1982 Sparks, 1986 Schindler and Stumm, 1987 Davis and Kent, 1990 Hiemstra and Van Riemsdijk, 1996 Venema et al., 1996) are summarised here. 

There are several properties of a chemical that are related to exposure potential or overall reactivity for which structure-based predictive models are available. The relevant properties discussed here are bioaccumulation, oral, dermal, and inhalation bioavailability and reactivity. These prediction methods are based on a combination of in vitro assays and quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSARs) [3]. QSARs are simple, usually linear, mathematical models that use chemical structure descriptors to predict first-order physicochemical properties, such as water solubility. Other, similar models can then be constructed that use the first-order physicochemical properties to predict more complex properties, including those of interest here. Chemical descriptors are properties that can be calculated directly from a chemical structure graph and can include abstract quantities, such as connectivity indices, or more intuitive properties, such as dipole moment or total surface area. QSAR models are parameterized using training data from sets of chemicals for which both structure and chemical properties are known, and are validated against other (independent) sets of chemicals. 

Although each SCM shares certain common features the formulation of the adsorption planes is different for each SCM. In the DDLM the relationship between surface charge, diffuse-layer potential, d, is calculated via the Gouy-Chapman equation (Table 5.1), while in the CCM a linear relationship between surface potential, s, is assumed by assigning a constant value for the inner-layer capacitance, kBoth models assume that the adsorbed species form inner-sphere complexes with surface hydroxyls. The TLM in its original... 

The solvent molecules form an oriented parallel, producing an electric potential that is added to the surface potential. This layer of solvent molecules can be protruded by the specifically adsorbed ions, or inner-sphere complexed ions. In this model, the solvent molecules together with the specifically adsorbed, inner-sphere complexed ions form the inner Helmholtz layer. Some authors divide the inner Helmholtz layer into two additional layers. For example, Grahame (1950) and Conway et al. (1951) assume that the relative permittivity of water varies along the double layer. In addition, the Stern variable surface charge-variable surface potential model (Bowden et al. 1977, 1980 Barrow et al. 1980, 1981) states that hydrogen and hydroxide ions, specifically adsorbed and inner-sphere... 

As seen from Equations 1.54-1.56, the intrinsic stability constants of surface reactions are dependent on two factors a chemical and an electric contribution. The chemical contribution is taken into consideration by the mass balance the electric contribution is treated by the charge balance. There are several surface complexation models that mainly differ in the description of the electric double layer that is used to calculate the surface potential, which is done by different double-layer models. These models have been mentioned previously in this chapter. Since, however, the terminology usually used in electrochemistry, colloid chemistry and, especially, in the discussions of surface complexation models is different, they are repeated again ... 

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