Conductivity and Electrokinetic Potential of Microcrystalline Cellulose Particles in Aqueous HCl and NaOH Solutions

The conductivity of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) dispersions in aqueous 10^–5–10^–2 M HCl and NaOH solutions was measured as a function of the particle volume fraction by the conductometry. The dependence of the relative conductivity of MCC particles on pH of equilibrium solutions was determined using the Wagner equation. The electrophoretic mobility of MCC particles in the aforementioned solutions was measured by the microelectrophoresis, and corresponding dependences of the particle potentials on pH of aqueous HCl and NaOH solutions (pH 2–11) were calculated using the Smoluchowski and Henry equations of the electrophoresis theory. It was shown that, in the case of MCC, the Henry equation, which allows for the significant conductivity of the dispersed particles, as compared with the dispersion medium, makes it possible to calculate more accurate potential values and, consequently, to derive the (pH) dependence, which is satisfactorily consistent with the effect of the surface charge and solution ionic strength on the potential in a wide pH range.