SANS and SAXS analysis of charged nanoparticle adsorption at oil-water interfaces

A systematic study of the adsorption of charged nanoparticles at dispersed oil-in-water emulsion interfaces is presented. The interaction potentials for negatively charged hexadecane droplets with anionic polystyrene latex particles or cationic gold particles are calculated using DLVO theory. Calculations demonstrate that increased ionic strength decreases the decay length of the electrostatic repulsion leading to enhanced particle adsorption. For the case of anionic PS latex particles, the energy barrier for particle adsorption is also reduced when the surface charge is neutralized through changes in pH. Complementary small-angle scattering experiments show that the highest particle adsorption for PS latex occurs at moderate ionic strength and low pH. For cationic gold particles, simple DLVO calculations also explain scattering results showing that the highest particle adsorption occurs at neutral pH due to the electrostatic attraction between oppositely charged surfaces. This work demonstrates that surface charges of particles and oil droplets are critical parameters to consider when engineering particle-stabilized emulsions.     

Direct surface force measurements of polyelectrolyte multilayer films containing nanocrystalline cellulose

Polyelectrolyte multilayer films containing nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) and poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) make up a new class of nanostructured composite with applications ranging from coatings to biomedical devices. Moreover, these materials are amenable to surface force studies using colloid-probe atomic force microscopy (CP-AFM). For electrostatically assembled films with either NCC or PAH as the outermost layer, surface morphology was investigated by AFM and wettability was examined by contact angle measurements. By varying the surrounding ionic strength and pH, the relative contributions from electrostatic, van der Waals, steric, and polymer bridging interactions were evaluated. The ionic cross-linking in these films rendered them stable under all solution conditions studied although swelling at low pH and high ionic strength was inferred. The underlying polymer layer in the multilayered film was found to dictate the dominant surface forces when polymer migration and chain extension were facilitated. The precontact normal forces between a silica probe and an NCC-capped multilayer film were monotonically repulsive at pH values where the material surfaces were similarly and fully charged. In contrast, at pH 3.5, the anionic surfaces were weakly charged but the underlying layer of cationic PAH was fully charged and attractive forces dominated due to polymer bridging from extended PAH chains. The interaction with an anionic carboxylic acid probe showed similar behavior to the silica probe; however, for a cationic amine probe with an anionic NCC-capped film, electrostatic double-layer attraction at low pH, and electrostatic double-layer repulsion at high pH, were observed. Finally, the effect of the capping layer was studied with an anionic probe, which indicated that NCC-capped films exhibited purely repulsive forces which were larger in magnitude than the combination of electrostatic double-layer attraction and steric repulsion, measured for PAH-capped films. Wherever possible, DLVO theory was used to fit the measured surface forces and apparent surface potentials and surface charge densities were calculated.     

The Effect of Surface Charge on Adsorption of a Cationic Polyelectrolyte

The regularities of adsorption of a cationic polyelectrolyte, poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride), on the surface of fused quartz are studied at different values of solution pH by capillary electrokinetics. It is shown that the polyelectrolyte adsorption on a negatively charged surface depends on the value of the surface charge and increases with its growth. At a low charge value (pH 3.8), the polyelectrolyte adsorption increases the quartz surface charge. The driving forces of the adsorption are both electrostatic interaction and forces of nonelectrostatic nature, probably hydrophobic interactions and a change in entropy due to the displacement of counterions from a double layer. The adsorption of poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) on quartz from alkaline and neutral solutions is irreversible, which indicates the key role of the electrostatic interaction. At low values of the surface charge, the nonelectrostatic interactions play the main role, thereby resulting in polyelectrolyte desorption.     

Electrostatic interactions between amphoteric latex particles and proteins

The electrostatic interactions between amphoteric polymethyl methacrylate latex particles and proteins with different pI values were investigated. These latex particles possess a net positive charge at low pH, but they become negatively charged at high pH. The nature and degree of interactions between these polymer particles and proteins are primarily controlled by the electrostatic characteristics of the particles and proteins under the experimental conditions. The self-promoting adsorption process from the charge neutralization of latex particles by the proteins, which have the opposite net charge to that of the particles, leads to a rapid reduction in the zeta potential of the particles (in other words colloidal stability), and so strong flocculation occurs. On the other hand, the electrostatic repulsion forces between similarly charged latex particles and the proteins retard the adsorption of protein molecules onto the surfaces of the particles. Therefore, latex particles exhibit excellent colloidal stability over a wide range of protein concentrations. A transition from net negative charge to net positive charge, and vice versa (charge reversal), was observed when the particle surface charge density was not high enough to be predominant in the protein adsorption process.     

Preparation of monomodal polyelectrolyte complex nanoparticles of PDADMAC/poly(maleic acid-alt-alpha-methylstyrene) by consecutive centrifugation

We report on the refinement of anionic and cationic nanoparticles of nonstoichometric polyelectrolyte complexes (PEC) by consecutive centrifugation, which was studied by dynamic light scattering (DLS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), colloid titration and infrared spectroscopy (IR). PEC dispersions were prepared by mixing poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDADMAC) and sodium poly(maleic acid-alt-alpha-methylstyrene) (PMA-MS) at the monomolar mixing ratio of n-/n+ = 1.50 (anionic PEC) and 0.66 (cationic PEC), respectively, and the polymer concentration of c(POL) = 0.002 M. The particle size (Rh), titrable charge amount, and IR spectra were determined for both dispersions in the original state, after the first centrifugation and after the second centrifugation. Freshly prepared PEC dispersions contained two different particle sizes: around 10-25 nm (small particles) and around 100 nm (large particles). Consecutive centrifugation of freshly prepared PEC dispersions resulted in the separation of highly charged excess polyelectrolyte (PEL) and small PEC particles from a low charged coacervate phase of the desired larger PEC particles. After the second centrifugation, the coacervate phase of both dispersions PEC-1.50 and PEC-0.66 consisted of monomodal particles sizing around 100 nm. These results were supported by AFM measurements on the respective dispersions deposited on glass plates. PEC-1.50 particles tended to adopt slightly smaller sizes ( approximately 90 nm) in comparison to PEC-0.66 ones (approximately 110 nm). No significant influence of the PDADMAC molecular weight on the particle size was found. IR spectroscopy showed changes in the environment of the carboxylate groups of PMA-MS by consecutive centrifugation. The centrifuged PEC-1.50 dispersions showed remarkable long-term stability over more than a year. The high macroscopic stability of the studied PEC dispersions is presumably due to repulsive electrostatic interparticle interactions and attractive hydrophobic intraparticle interaction. The introduced monomodal PEC particles might be projected as latex analogues or as nanocarriers for drugs and proteins.     

Impact factors and thermodynamic characteristics of aquatic humic acid loaded onto kaolin

The adsorption of humic acid (HA) on kaolin particles was studied at various conditions of initial solution pH, ionic strength and solid-to-liquid ratio. The resulting affinity of interactions between humic acid and kaolin was attributed to the surface coordination of HA in ambient suspensions of mineral particles and the strong electrostatic force at low pH. Addition of inorganic salt can also influence the adsorption behavior by affecting the HA molecular structure, the clay particle zeta potential and so on. Equilibrium data were well fitted by the Freundlich model and implied the occurrence of multilayer adsorption in the process. In addition, the enthalpy dependent of system temperature was 79.17 kJ/mol, which proved that the mechanism of HA adsorption onto kaolin was comprehensive, including electrostatic attraction, ligand complexation and hydrogen bonding.     

Surface interaction forces mediated by poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) polymers: effects of concentration and temperature

Total internal reflection microscopy was used to directly measure the interaction potentials between a micron-sized silica sphere and a flat silica surface in the presence of a linear poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) aqueous solution. When the PNIPAM concentration was low, no discernible forces were detected. A further increase in PNIPAM concentration resulted in a long-range attraction which was likely due to a combined of the reduced electrostatic interaction between the silica particle and the flat surface after the polymer adsorption and polymer bridges formation. On the other hand, for a fixed PNIPAM concentration, the interaction potential profiles between the particle and flat surface were once again characterized by attraction as temperature was increased. This attractive force can be explained in terms of the conformational changes of PNIPAM chains at the surfaces, which subsequently affected the polymer adsorption and enhanced the segment–segment interaction among the adsorbed polymer chains.     

Adsorption behavior of DODAB/DPPC vesicles on silica

The interaction between composite dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC)/dioctadecyldimethylammonium bromide (DODAB) bilayer vesicles in the gel state and silica is investigated over the 0-20% DODAB range from determination of adsorption curves, silica sedimentation, particle sizing and zeta-potentials. At 1 mg/mL silica, 0% DODAB, pH 6.3, over the 0-150 mM NaCl range of ionic strengths, high affinity adsorption curves were barely affected by ionic strength and all of them exhibited limiting adsorption values above the level expected for single bilayer deposition. At 1 mg/mL silica, 2% DODAB, pH 6.3 and 1 mM NaCl, high affinity adsorption curves fortuitously presented limiting adsorption indicative of one bilayer deposition on each silica particle. At %DODAB<2% or %DODAB>2%, limiting adsorption was above and below the level expected for bilayer deposition, respectively. Increasing %DODAB in the vesicle composition negatively modulated the limiting adsorption on silica despite the increasing surface charge on vesicles and electrostatic attraction between vesicles and particles. The results point out the difficulty of closed vesicle disruption (required for bilayer deposition from vesicles) when the bilayer is tightly packed in the rigid gel state and might be of interest for analytical applications of immobilized vesicles on silica.     

Dynamic adhesion behavior of micrometer-scale particles flowing over patchy surfaces with nanoscale electrostatic heterogeneity

The dynamic adhesion behavior of micrometer-scale silica particles is investigated numerically for a low Reynolds number shear flow over a planar collecting wall with randomly distributed electrostatic heterogeneity at the 10-nanometer scale. The hydrodynamic forces and torques on a particle are coupled to spatially varying colloidal interactions between the particle and wall. Contact and frictional forces are included in the force and torque balances to capture particle skipping, rolling, and arrest. These dynamic adhesion signatures are consistent with experimental results and are reminiscent of motion signatures observed in cell adhesion under flowing conditions, although for the synthetic system the particle–wall interactions are controlled by colloidal forces rather than physical bonds between cells and a functionalized surface. As the fraction of the surface (Θ) covered by the cationic patches is increased from zero, particle behavior sequentially transitions from no contact with the surface to skipping, rolling, and arrest, with the threshold patch density for adhesion (Θ_crit) always greater than zero and in quantitative agreement with experimental results. The ionic strength of the flowing solution determines the extent of the electrostatic interactions and can be used to tune selectively the dynamic adhesion behavior by modulating two competing effects. The extent of electrostatic interactions in the plane of the wall, or electrostatic zone of influence, governs the importance of spatial fluctuations in the cationic patch density and thus determines if flowing particles contact the wall. The distance these interactions extend into solution normal to the wall determines the strength of the particle–wall attraction, which governs the transition from skipping and rolling to arrest. The influence of Θ, particle size, Debye length, and shear rate is quantified through the construction of adhesion regime diagrams, which delineate the regions in parameter space that give rise to different dynamic adhesion signatures and illustrate selective adhesion based on particle size or curvature. The results of this study are suggestive of novel ways to control particle–wall interactions using randomly distributed surface heterogeneity.     

A modeling approach to describe the adhesion of rough, asymmetric particles to surfaces

A combined theoretical and experimental study of the adhesion of alumina particles and polystyrene latex spheres to silicon dioxide surfaces was performed. A boundary element technique was used to model electrostatic interactions between micron-scale particles and planar surfaces when the particles and surfaces were in contact. This method allows quantitative evaluation of the effects of particle geometry and surface roughness on the electrostatic interaction. The electrostatic interactions are combined with a previously developed model for van der Waals forces in particle adhesion. The combined model accounts for the effects of particle and substrate geometry, surface roughness and asperity deformation on the adhesion force. Predictions from the combined model are compared with experimental measurements made with an atomic force microscope. Measurements are made in aqueous solutions of varying ionic strength and solution pH. While van der Waals forces are generally dominant when particles are in contact with surfaces, results obtained here indicate that electrostatic interactions contribute to the overall adhesion force in certain cases. Specifically, alumina particles with complex geometries were found to adhere to surfaces due to both electrostatic and van der Waals interactions, while polystyrene latex spheres were not affected by electrostatic forces when in contact with various surfaces.     

The influence of ionic strength, nutrients and pH on bacterial adhesion to metals

Bacteria-metal interactions in aqueous solutions are important in biofilm formation, biofouling and biocorrosion problems in the natural environment and engineered systems. In this study, the adhesion forces of two anaerobes (Desulfovibrio desulfuricans and Desulfovibrio singaporenus) and an aerobe (Pseudomonas sp.) to stainless steel 316 in various aqueous systems were quantified using atomic force microscopy (AFM) with a cell probe. Results show that the nutrient and ionic strength of the solutions influence the bacteria-metal interactions. The bacteria-metal adhesion force was reduced in the presence of the nutrients in the solution, because a trace organic film was formed and thus decreased the metal surface wettability. Stronger ionic strength in the solution results in a larger bacteria-metal adhesion force, which is due to the stronger electrostatic attraction force between the positively charged metal surface and negatively charged bacterial surface. Solution pH also influences the interaction between the bacterial cells and the metal surface; the bacteria-metal adhesion force reached its highest value when the pH of the solution was near the isoelectric point of the bacteria, i.e. at the zero point charge. The adhesion forces at pH 9 were higher than at pH 7 due to the increase in the attraction between Fe ions and negative carboxylate groups.     

十二烷基三甲基溴化铵在聚苯乙烯胶乳粒子上的吸附

实验测得C~1~2TAB在PS胶乳粒子表面的吸附等温线呈L型的二阶段吸附特征,这表明初始的C~1~2TA^+离子是将其季铵正电性头基吸引在PS链的负电性硫酸根端基上,并将碳氢链通过疏水相互作用吸附在PS链上。结合光子相关谱测得胶乳粒子流体力学半径R~H的变化,表明第I阶段围绕着这些初始吸附位的聚集吸附,产生平均聚集数为4.0的松散小聚集体,此时对应的浓度c/cmc=0.32是文献通常所指的临界表面胶团浓度csmc。其后的进一步聚集吸附最终生成了附着在PS链端基处且平均聚集数为19.5的球形吸附胶团。这一饱和吸附的结果增加了胶乳粒子在水溶液中的分散稳定性。     

Microflotation Suppression and Enhancement Caused by Particle/Bubble Electrostatic Interaction

The processes of attachment and detachment of small or medium-sized particles to relatively large bubbles during microflotation are considered in terms of the heterocoagulation theory. Calculations are made for the conditions that the surface potentials are of similar sign and constant, that one of the surface potentials is small, that hydrophobic attraction is absent, and that there are no surface deformations. Under these conditions bubble-particle aggregates may form as a result of an electrostatic attraction which exceeds the repulsive van der Waals force at intermediate distances. Next to electrostatic and van der Waals forces, hydrodynamic and gravitational forces are considered. These forces may overcome the electrostatic repulsion at large distances and promote particle bubble attachment. Strong electrostatic attraction at small distances, arising at a large difference of the surface potentials of the bubble and the particle and of low electrolyte concentrations, can prevent subsequent detachment by hydrodynamic and gravitational forces. With increasing electrolyte concentration the electrostatic barrier increases and the attractive electrostatic force diminishes. As a result, a critical electrolyte concentration for microflotation exists. Above this concentration attachment may still occur but it is followed by detachment. At lower electrolyte concentrations the electrostatic attractive force prevents the detachment. The dependence of the critical electrolyte concentration on the values of the bubble and particle potentials and the Hamaker constant is calculated. The critical concentration does not depend on particle or bubble size if the absolute values of the total detachment force and the total pressing force coincide, which is the case for Stokes and potential flow. For every electrolyte concentration lower than the critical value there are two critical particle sizes that limit the flotation possibility. For small particle sizes attachment is impossible because the pressing force is smaller than the electrostatic barrier. For large particle sizes detachment cannot be prevented because the detachment force exceeds the maximum electrostatic attraction. A microflotation domain of intermediate particle sizes exists in which irreversible heterocoagulation occurs. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.     

Role of electrostatic interactions in two-dimensional self-assembly of tobacco mosaic viruses on cationic lipid monolayers

We explore two-dimensional self-assembly of tobacco mosaic viruses (TMVs) on a substrate-supported, fluid lipid monolayer by manipulating the electrostatic interactions, with specific focus on the effects of the cationic lipid concentration in the monolayer and the presence of Ca(2+) ions in the surrounding bulk solution. The TMV assemblies were characterized by grazing-incidence X-ray scattering and atomic force microscopy, and the inter-particle interaction quantified through X-ray scattering data analysis. In the absence of Ca(2+) ions, we found that higher charge densities on the lipid monolayer led to poorer in-plane order, which may be attributed to faster adsorption kinetics, due to the surface potential that increases with charge density. At the same time, higher lipid-charge densities also resulted in weaker repulsion between TMVs, due to partial screening of Coulomb repulsion by mobile cationic lipids in the monolayer. The lipid-charge dependence was diminished with increasing concentration of Ca(2+) ions, which also led to tighter packing of TMVs. The results indicate that Ca(2+) ions strengthen the screening of Coulomb repulsion between TMVs and consequently enhance the role of attractive forces. Control experiments involving Na(+) ions suggest that the attractive inter-TMV interaction has contributions from both the van der Waals force and the counter-ion-induced attraction that depends on ion valence.     

Adsorption of polyelectrolyte modified graphene to silica surfaces: monolayers and multilayers

Exfoliated graphene particles stabilised by the cationic polyelectrolyte polyethyleneimine (PEI) were used in conjunction with an anionic polyelectrolyte, poly(acrylic acid), to construct multilayers using the layer-by-layer technique on a silica substrate. In the first adsorption step, the surface excess of the cationic graphene was dependent on the overall charge on the nanoparticle which in turn can be tuned through modifying solution pH as PEI has weakly ionisable charged amine groups. The adsorbed amount onto the silica surface increased as the solution pH increased. Subsequently, a layer of PAA was adsorbed on top of the cationic graphene through electrostatic interaction. The multilayer could be assembled through this alternate deposition, with the influence of solution conditions investigated. The pH of the adsorbing solutions was the chief determinant of the overall adsorbed amounts, with more mass added at the elevated pH of 9 in comparison with pH 4. Atomic force microscopy confirmed that the graphene particles were adsorbed to the silica interface and that the surface coverage of the disc-like nanoparticles was complete after the deposition of five graphene-polyelectrolyte bi-layers. Furthermore, the graphene nanoparticles themselves could be modified through the consecutive addition of the oppositely charged polymers. A multilayered assembly of negatively charged graphene sheets modified with a bi-layer of PEI and PAA was also deposited on a silica surface with adsorbed PEI.     

Interactions of PEI (polyethylenimine)–silica particles with citric acid in dispersions

Adsorbed polyethylenimine (PEI) of M _w 1,800 and 70,000 on silica (SiO₂) dispersions produced flocculated slurry in the pH range of 5 to 12. Adsorbed citrate widens this flocculated pH regime. It also increases the strength of the interparticle attractive force or the yield stress over the pH range of between 3 and 8. The stronger attractive force is due to particle bridging by the citrate anions bonding with positively charge sites of the adsorbed PEI layer of the interacting particles at the closest point of interaction. The higher M _w PEI being more strongly attached to the silica particle produced a stronger attractive interparticle force with adsorbed citrate anions. Via charge balance calculation using contributions from SiO₂, PEI, and citrate, the pH of zero charge was found to correspond to the pH of zero zeta potential for PEI of M _w 70,000. This suggests 100% adsorption of PEI and citrate on SiO₂. The bridging interaction was confirmed by a linear relationship between yield stress and the square of the limiting citrate charge content. Adsorbed citrate was found for the first time to play the role of a bridging agent, a result of the positive charges being located on a more flexible adsorbed layer rather than being fixed to a rigid surface.     

Adsorption of anionic surfactants on positively charged polystyrene particles II

In the case of cationic polystyrene latex, the adsorption of anionic surfactants involves a strong electrostatic interaction between both the particle and the surfactant, which may affect the conformation of the surfactant molecules adsorbed onto the latex-particle surface. The adsorption isotherms showed that adsorption takes place according to two different mechanisms. First, the initial adsorption of the anionic surfactant molecules on cationic polystyrene surface would be due to the attractive electrostatic interaction between both ionic groups, laying the alkyl-chains of surfactant molecules flat on the surface as a consequence of the hydrophobic interaction between these chains and the polystyrene particle surface, which is predominantly hydrophobic. Second, at higher surface coverage the adsorbed surfactant molecules may move into a partly vertical orientation with some head groups facing the solution. According to this second mechanism the hydrophobic interactions of hydrocarbon chains play an important role in the adsorption of surfactant molecules at high surface coverage. This would account for the very high negative mobilities obtained at surfactant concentration higher than 5×10^–7 M. Under high surface-coverage conditions, some electrophoretic mobility measurements were performed at different ionic strength. The appearance of a maximum in the mobility-ionic strength curves seems to depend upon alkyl-chain length. Also the effects of temperature and pH on mobilities of anionic surfactant-cationic latex particles have been studied. The mobility of the particles covered by alkyl-sulphonate surfactants varied with the pH in a similar manner as it does with negatively charged sulphated latex particles, which indicates that the surfactant now controls the surface charge and the hydrophobic-hydrophilic character of the surface.Dedicated to the memory of Dr. Safwan Al-Khouri IbrahimPresented at the Euchem Workshop on Adsorption of Surfactants and Macromolecules from Solution, Åbo (Turku), Finland, June 1989     

Adsorption of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide at the silica gel/water interface

The adsorption isotherms of cetyltrimethylammonium ion (CTA+) together with that of the Br counterion on silica gel, and the effects of pH and added salts (NaF, NaCl and NaBr) have been systematically determined at 25°C. Electrophoretic mobilities of the silica gel particles have also been measured in the same conditions. The adsorption isotherm of CTA⁺ consists of four regions. Region I, at low concentrations of surfactant, the adsorption results primarily from electrostatic force between CTA⁺ and the negatively charged silica surface. Region II (first plateau), at medium concentrations, the adsorption is due to both the electrostatic force and the specific attraction (vdW forces) between CTA⁺ and the surface. Region III, characterized by an abrupt increase in the slope of the isotherm when the concentration reaches a particular point known as hemimicelle concentration (HMC). The abrupt increase in the adsorption is due to the hydrophobic interaction between hydrocarbon chains. Region IV (second plateau), at or above CMC, the limiting adsorption is reached as the micelle is not adsorbed. Based on this model, the experimental results can be explained reasonably. The results show that the HMC is about half of the CMC. According to the assumption that each adsorbed CTA⁺ ion in the first plateau is an active center for surface aggregation, the average aggregation number of hemimicelle have been calculated.     

接枝微粒PMAA/SiO2在水介质中对杀虫剂抗蚜威的吸附机理

以硅胶表面接枝聚甲基丙烯酸(PMAA)的复合型功能微粒PMAA/SiO2为固体吸附剂, 对水介质中的抗蚜威进行了静态吸附实验, 通过考察温度、pH值及盐度(NaCl浓度)对吸附容量的影响, 重点研究了PMAA/SiO2对抗蚜威的吸附机理. 为确认所提出的机理的正确性, 还采用紫外光谱吸收法, 研究了单体甲基丙烯酸与抗蚜威之间的相互作用, 也考察了在非水介质CCl4中PMAA/SiO2对抗蚜威的吸附作用. 研究结果表明, PMAA/SiO2对抗蚜威具有强的吸附作用, 吸附的驱动力是氢键、静电以及疏水相互作用三种作用的协同, 其中主驱动力是静电相互作用. 温度升高, 吸附容量减小; 盐度增大, 吸附容量降低; 当pH<8时, 吸附容量随pH升高而增大; 当pH>8时, 吸附容量随pH升高而减小; 当pH=8 时,吸附容量最大.     

Adsorption of ionic surfactants in particulate systems: flotation,stability, and interaction forces

The flotation efficiency of silica particles using the ionic surfactants, sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (SDbS) and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CPB), have been investigated. Results from adsorption, electrophoretic mobility, dispersion stability and direct interaction force measurements are used to develop an understanding of the role of ionic surfactants in particulate flotation. Adsorption and mobility data indicate that SDbS adsorbs at the silica/solution interface, though without improving the flotation efficiency. CPB was found to adsorb on the silica particles as a result of electrostatic interaction; initially to neutralize the surface charge and destabilize the suspension, and at higher surfactant concentrations, to reverse the particle charge and re-stabilize the suspension. Direct force measurements in the presence of CPB confirm that the electrostatic interactions between approaching surfaces are neutralized at low CPB concentrations. Additionally, evidence for a strong adhesive interaction after contact is seen. At higher concentrations, the surfaces begin to recharge, and the adhesive interaction decreases in magnitude. The flotation efficiency was found to correlate well with the measured particle interactions, and to be a function of the particulate electrophoretic mobility.