Experimental Study on Viscosity of Colloidal Silica in Aqueous Electrolytic Solutions

The relative viscosity of colloidal silica dispersion in aqueous electrolytic solutions as the function of volume fraction of dry particles in the solutions has been experimentally determined in this work, in order to study the effects of pH and electrolytes (Na₂SO₄ and AlCl₃) on the hydration of the silica surfaces in the solutions. The results have shown that the maximum relative viscosity of the silica dispersion and the strongest hydration of the silica in aqueous solutions appeared at neutral pH, while the stronger the acidity and the alkalinity of the aqueous solution, the weaker the hydration. In the presence of the electrolytes (Na₂SO₄ and AlCl₃), the relative viscosity of the silica dispersion reduced and the hydration of the silica in aqueous solutions became weak. The higher the concentration of the electrolytes, the weaker the hydration, indicating that the destabilization of the colloidal silica dispersion in aqueous solutions might be realized through adding the high-valence electrolytes to weaken the hydration of the particle surfaces (hydration forces between the particles). Also, it has been shown that the negative zeta potentials of the colloidal silica in aqueous solutions greatly reduced in the presence of the electrolytes. Therefore, the high-valence electrolytes (Na₂SO₄ and AlCl₃) as the coagulant of colloidal silica in aqueous solutions might be originated from that the presence of the electrolytes simultaneously reduces the electrical double layer repulsive force and the hydration repulsive forces between the particles in aqueous solutions.     

液化膜对胶体悬浮液粘度的影响

Viscosity is one of the most important properties of colloids in mixing, transportation, stabilization, energy consumption, and so on. According to Einstein‘s viscosity equation, the viscosity of a colloidal dispersion increases with the increase of particle concentration. And the equation can be applicable to all micro-particle dispersions, because the effect of solvation films coated on particles can be neglectable in that case. But with the decrease of particle size to nano-scale, the formation of solvation films on nano-particles can greatly affect the viscosity of a dispersion, and Einstein‘s equation may not be applicable to this case. In this work, one kind of micro-size silica particle and two kinds of nano-size silica particles were used to investigate the effect of solvation films on dispersion viscosity, dispersed in water and ethyl alcohol solvents, respectively. The results of theoretical calculation and experimental investigation show that the increase of viscosity is contributed from solvation films by more than 95 percent for nano-particle dispersions, while less than 10 percent for micro-particle dispersions.     

Quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring and surface plasmon resonance studies of carboxymethyl cellulose adsorption onto regenerated cellulose surfaces

Adsorption of anionic polyelectrolytes, sodium salts of carboxymethyl celluloses (CMCs) with different degrees of substitution (DS = 0.9 and 1.2), from aqueous electrolyte solutions onto regenerated cellulose surfaces was studied using quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) experiments. The influence of both calcium chloride (CaCl(2)) and sodium chloride (NaCl) on CMC adsorption was examined. The QCM-D results demonstrated that CaCl(2) (divalent cation) caused significantly greater CMC adsorption onto regenerated cellulose surfaces than NaCl (monovalent cation) at the same ionic strength. The CMC layers adsorbed onto regenerated cellulose surfaces from CaCl(2) solutions exhibited greater stability upon exposure to flowing water than layers adsorbed from NaCl solutions. Both QCM-D and SPR results showed that CMC adsorption onto regenerated cellulose surfaces from CaCl(2) solutions increased with increasing CaCl(2) concentration up to the solubility limit (10 mM). Voigt-based viscoelastic modeling of the QCM-D data indicated that the CMC layers adsorbed onto regenerated cellulose surfaces had shear viscosities of η(f) ≈ 10(-3) N·s·m(-2) and elastic shear moduli of μ(f) ≈ 10(5) N·m(-2). Furthermore, the combination of SPR spectroscopy and QCM-D showed that the CMC layers contained 90-95% water. Adsorption isotherms for CMCs in CaCl(2) solutions were also obtained from QCM-D and were fit by Freundlich isotherms. This study demonstrated that CMC adsorption from CaCl(2) solutions is useful for the modification of cellulose surfaces.     

Interfacial water on hydrophobic surfaces recognized by ions and molecules

Recent spectrophotometric and molecular dynamics simulation studies have shown that the physicochemical properties and structures of water in the vicinity of hydrophobic surfaces differ from those of the bulk water. However, the interfacial water acting as a separation medium on hydrophobic surfaces has never been detected and quantified experimentally. In this study, we show that small inorganic ions and organic molecules differentiate the interfacial water formed on the surfaces of octadecyl-bonded (C(18)) silica particles from the bulk water and the chemical separation of these solutes in aqueous media with hydrophobic materials can be interpreted with a consistent mechanism, partition between the bulk water phase and the interfacial water formed on the hydrophobic surface. Thermal transition behaviour of the interfacial water incorporated in the nanopores of the C(18) silica materials and the solubility parameter of the water calculated from the distribution coefficients of organic compounds have indicated that the interfacial water may have a structure of disrupted hydrogen bonding. The thickness of the interfacial water or the limit of distance from the hydrophobic surface at which molecules and ions can sense the surface was estimated to be 1.25 ± 0.13 nm from the volume of the interfacial water obtained by a liquid chromatographic method and the surface area, suggesting that the hydrophobic effect may extend beyond the first solvation shell of water molecules directly surrounding the surfaces.     

Viscosity of aqueous DNA solutions determined using dynamic light scattering

Viscosity is a key parameter for characterising the behaviour of liquids and their flow. It is, however, difficult to measure precisely, reproducibly and accurately for aqueous solutions on a micro-litre volume scale, which is what is usually needed for biological samples. We report the development of a new method for measuring dynamic viscosity by measuring dynamic light scattering (DLS) data for a range of particles of well-defined size. Most applications of DLS involve determining particle size for samples of known viscosity. We inverted the usual protocol and endeavoured to determine viscosity for samples of known particle size. Viscosity measurements for water and aqueous solutions of calf thymus DNA made using DLS were compared with those from a U-tube viscometer. The styrene particles, frequently used as particle size standards, gave unsatisfactory results for our DNA samples as did C-6 derivatized silica and positively charged amino polystyrene microspheres. However, negatively charged carboxylate polystyrene microspheres particles readily gave accurate viscosity measurements over a range of temperatures (0-100 °C). The sample volume required depends on the cuvette used to measure DLS, but can be performed with samples sizes ranging from 40 to 3000 μL. The sample can then be recovered for subsequent experiments. The DLS method is simple to perform at different temperatures and provides data of accuracy significantly above that of a U-tube viscometer. Our results also indicate a way forward to account accurately for solution viscosity in the normal applications of DLS to particle size determination by including the appropriate non-interacting particles as an internal standard.     

Structural and dynamic properties of concentrated alkali halide solutions: a molecular dynamics simulation study

The physicochemical properties of alkali halide solutions have long been attributed to the collective interactions between ions and water molecules in the solution, yet the structure of water in these systems and its effect on the equilibrium and dynamic properties of these systems are not clearly understood. Here, we present a systematic view of water structure in concentrated alkali halide solutions using molecular dynamics simulations. The results of the simulations show that the size of univalent ions in the solution has a significant effect on the dynamics of ions and other transport properties such as the viscosity that are correlated with the structural properties of water in aqueous ionic solution. Small cations (e.g., Li+) form electrostatically stabilized hydrophilic hydration shells that are different from the hydration shells of large ions (e.g., Cs+) which behave more like neutral hydrophobic particles, encapsulated by hydrogen-bonded hydration cages. The properties of solutions with different types of ion solvation change in different ways as the ion concentration increases. Examples of this are the diffusion coefficients of the ions and the viscosities of solutions. In this paper we use molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to study the changes in the equilibrium and transport properties of LiCl, RbCl, and CsI solutions at concentrations from 0.22 to 3.97 M.     

Electrorheological properties and microstructure of silica suspensions

We present experimental and theoretical results on the electrorheological response and microstructure of colloidal suspensions composed of silica nanoparticles dispersed in a silicon oil, as a function of electric field strength and silica water content. Using small-angle neutrons scattering experiments, we determined the evolution of the static structure factor of the suspensions when an electric field is applied. Experimental data were fitted with model calculations using the Percus-Yevick solution for Baxter's hard-sphere adhesive potential. The obtained stickiness parameter is directly related to the polarization interactions that depend on the water content of silica particles. The influence of the polarization interparticle potential on the rheology of the silica dispersions was investigated in a second time. A microscopic theory for the shear viscosity of adhesive hard-sphere suspensions was successfully used which describes the steady shear viscosity of suspension in terms of the fractal concept.     

Volumetric,Viscosity and Self-Diffusion Coefficient Studies of [18-Crown-6:M]A Complexed Species in Water at 298.15 K

Density and viscosity measurements were made for aqueous solutions of electrolytes containing 18-crown-6 (18C6) at 298.15 K. A method is proposed to extract the volumetric and viscosity data of the [18C6:M]A complexed species in aqueous solutions from ternary mixtures using the thermodynamic equilibrium constant values at 298.15 K. The apparent molar volume of the [18C6:M]A complexed species have been estimated for these binary solutions. Further, the viscosity data thus obtained were subjected to analysis using the Jones-Dole equation to get viscosity A- and B-coefficients of complexed ions in water. The hydration number and molecular radius of the hydrated complexes in water have been estimated. It was observed that hydration of the complexed ion is strongly influenced by the charge density of the metal ions in the complexed state. The self-diffusion coefficient and correlation time values for the complexes in water were calculated using viscosity data, which indicated that diffusion of complexed species was faster than that of the host ligand 18C6 (D_3d structural entity) in water at 298.15 K. It was suggested that the ionic radii estimated in this work for large hydrophobic cations can be of use in studying electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions especially in aqueous solutions.     

Rheological behavior of silica suspensions in aqueous solutions of associating polymer

Associating polymers are hydrophilic long-chain molecules containing a small amount of hydrophobic groups. The aqueous solutions show viscoelastic responses above some critical concentrations because a three-dimensional structure is formed by association of hydrophobic groups. When the associating polymers are added to silica suspensions at low concentrations, the flocculation is induced by bridging mechanisms, and the flow of suspensions become shear-thinning. For suspensions prepared with polymer solutions in which the associating network is developed, the viscosity decreases, shows a minimum, and then increases with increasing particle concentration. The viscosity decrease may arise from the breakdown of associating network due to adsorption of polymer chains onto the silica surfaces. As the particle concentration is increased, the polymer concentration in solution is decreased, and finally, all polymer chains are adsorbed on the surfaces. Beyond this point, the partial coverage of particle surfaces takes place and strong interactions are generated between particles by polymer bridging. Since the stable suspensions are converted to highly flocculated systems, the viscosity is increased and the flow becomes shear-thinning. The concentration effect of silica particles on the viscosity behavior of suspensions can be explained by a combination of viscosity decrease in solution due to polymer adsorption and viscosity increase due to flocculation.     

Kinetics of oxygen absorption by aqueous electrolyte solutions in the presence of microencapsulated quartz particles activating the mass transfer in the liquid phase

Effect of the ion composition of aqueous solutions on the oxygen absorption kinetics in a system constituted by a gas (air) and a liquid (aqueous solution) in the presence of microencapsulated quartz particles activating the mass transfer in the liquid phase was studied. It was found that ions with positive hydration cause a substantial decrease in the O₂ mass-transfer enhancement factor, whereas ions with negative hydration lead to its increase under the same conditions. It is shown that the effect of ions on the rate of oxygen absorption by aqueous electrolyte solutions can be prognosticated on the basis of data on the influence of these ions on the structure and viscosity of water. The results of the study can serve as a basis for varying the rate of heterogeneous reactions in gas-liquid systems, whose rate is limited by the mass transfer of oxygen into aqueous media, by purposeful control over their ion composition.     

Study of hydration layers near a hydrophilic surface in water through AFM imaging

In this work, a hydrophilic silica plate exposed in air, and immersed in an aqueous solution was studied through atomic force microscopy (AFM) imaging in contact‐ and tapping‐mode operations. It was experimentally found that the tapping‐mode AFM images of the silica surface were different when it was immersed in an aqueous solution from those when it was exposed in air. The former showed fewer topographic features. However, the contact‐mode AFM images of the silica surface were almost uninfluenced by the medium in which the surface was placed. This phenomenon might be attributed to the existence of hydration layers near the silica surface in the aqueous solution. The layers are like a large sheet on the surface that hides the details, so that an AFM tip in the tapping mode can read only the hydration layer and therefore image only the rough outline of the surface. This result might suggest the existence of hydration layers near a hydrophilic surface immersed in water. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of cation size and charge on the interaction between silica surfaces in 1:1, 2:1, and 3:1 aqueous electrolytes

Application of two complementary AFM measurements, force vs separation and adhesion force, reveals the combined effects of cation size and charge (valency) on the interaction between silica surfaces in three 1:1, three 2:1, and three 3:1 metal chloride aqueous solutions of different concentrations. The interaction between the silica surfaces in 1:1 and 2:1 salt solutions is fully accounted for by ion-independent van der Waals (vdW) attraction and electric double-layer repulsion modified by cation specific adsorption to the silica surfaces. The deduced ranking of mono- and divalent cation adsorption capacity (adsorbability) to silica, Mg(2+) < Ca(2+) < Na(+) < Sr(2+) < K(+) < Cs(+), follows cation bare size as well as cation solvation energy but does not correlate with hydrated ionic radius or with volume or surface ionic charge density. In the presence of 3:1 salts, the coarse phenomenology of the force between the silica surfaces as a function of salt concentration resembles that in 1:1 and 2:1 electrolytes. Nevertheless, two fundamental differences should be noticed. First, the attraction between the silica surfaces is too large to be attributed solely to vdW force, hence implying an additional attraction mechanism or gross modification of the conventional vdW attraction. Second, neutralization of the silica surfaces occurs at trivalent cation concentrations that are 3 orders of magnitude smaller than those characterizing surface neutralization by mono- and divalent cations. Consequently, when trivalent cations are added to our cation adsorbability series the correlation with bare ion size breaks down abruptly. The strong adsorbability of trivalent cations to silica contrasts straightforward expectations based on ranking of the cationic solvation energies, thus suggesting a different adsorption mechanism which is inoperative or weak for mono- and divalent cations.     

Effect of pH and Salt on Rheological Properties of Aerosil Suspensions

Ionic strength and pH will influence the zeta potential of suspended particles, and consequently particle interactions and rheological properties as well. In this study the rheological properties and aggregation behaviour of Aerosil particles dispersed in aqueous solutions with various pH and salt concentration were studied. The potential energy was estimated by the DLVO theory and short range hydration forces and compared to the experimentally determined zeta potential. The strongest attraction between particles occurs at the isoelectric point (pH 4) and resulted in large aggregates, which gave relatively higher values of viscosity, yield stress, moduli, and shear thinning effects. The relative viscosity as a function of volume fraction was fitted to the Krieger and Dougherty model for all the suspensions. Oscillation measurements showed that the suspensions display elastic behaviour at low pH and viscous behavior at high pH. Furthermore, suspensions with high salt content had higher storage moduli. A power law dependency of storage moduli with volume fraction could be used to indicate the interaction strength between particles.     

甲基丙烯酸甲酯/纳米SiO_2粒子分散液的细乳化和细乳液聚合

对包含纳米SiO2粒子的甲基丙烯酸甲酯(MMA)的细乳化和细乳液聚合行为进行了研究.发现在超声细乳化过程中,90%以上的分散于MMA相的纳米SiO2粒子将从油相逃逸到水相.采用甲基丙烯酸3-(三甲氧基甲硅烷基)丙酯(MPS)偶联剂处理SiO2粒子,可以增加其表面亲油性,抑止这种逃逸,经测定几乎全部SiO2粒子在超声细乳化后仍稳定停留在细乳化亚微液滴中.通过进一步细乳液聚合,得到了分散稳定、界面清晰的包裹有纳米SiO2粒子的聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯复合粒子乳液.     

高温及超临界条件下 MgCl2与CaCl2水溶液中离子水化与缔合的量子化学计算

对NaCl等碱金属水溶液的研究表明,室温条件下,离子在溶液中以水合形式存在,而在高温及超临界时,阴阳离子将结合成为离子对．采用量子化学计算,研究了MgCl2与CaCl2水溶液中水化与缔合的情况．通过Gaussian98软件包计算了阳离子的水化自由能以及离子对的生成能,从而获得水合离子与离子对的热力学稳定性及其随温度、压力的变化情况．通过比较热力学稳定性,考察了两种溶液中水化与缔合的变化情况．研究结果表明,MgCl2与CaCl2水溶液中离子水化与缔合的变化趋势与碱金属溶液基本一致,但是存在一个过渡区域,该区域内离子对与水合离子共存,因此需要采用不同于碱金属溶液的方法处理MgCl2与CaCl2水溶液．     

The effect of the structure of cinnamic acid derivatives on their interaction with highly dispersed silica in aqueous medium

Adsorption of cinnamic, caffeic, and ferulic acids on the surface of highly dispersed silica from aqueous solutions is studied. The dependence of the structure of adsorption complexes on the molecular structure of adsorbates is determined. Values of free energies of solvation and adsorption of acids are calculated with allowance for solvation effects.     

Synthesis of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-grafted colloidal silica particles with improved stability in aqueous solvents

The known grafting procedures of colloidal silica particles with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) lead to grafting layers that detach from the silica surface and dissolve in water within a few days. We present a new grafting procedure of PEG onto silica with a significant improvement of the stability of the grafting layers in aqueous solvents. Moreover, the procedure avoids any dry states or other circumstances leading to strong aggregation of the particles. To achieve the improved water stability, St?ber silica particles are first pre-coated with a silane coupling agent (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APS) to incorporate active amine groups. The water solubility of the pre-coating layer was minimized using a combination of APS with bis-(trimethoxysilylpropyl)amine (BTMOSPA) or bis-(triethoxysilyl)ethane (BTEOSE). These pre-coated particles were then reacted with N-succinimidyl ester of mono-methoxy poly(ethylene glycol) carboxylic acid to form PEG-grafted silica particles. The particles form stable dispersions in aqueous solutions as well as several organic solvents.     

聚乙烯醇水溶液反复冷冻过程中的溶剂化效应

采用示差扫描量热技术(DSC)对聚乙烯醇(PVA)水溶液反复冰冻过程中的溶剂化效应进行研究.引入水化数的概念来表征溶剂化效应的大小.结果表明不同浓度区间的PVA水溶液其在反复冰冻过程中溶剂化效应显著不同,主要归因于高分子链分子内和分子间缠结程度对溶剂分子"参与"溶剂化的程度和方式的不同.作者把极稀高分子溶液的研究结果拓展到高分子稀溶液或亚浓溶液区间,阐述了高分子溶液中高分子链的物理图像.冷冻次数的增加导致链间缠结增加,部分溶剂则被包裹在由链间缠结点所形成的网圈内成为分子链的一部分.溶液溶剂化程度的变化受到包裹溶剂与高分子链脱溶剂化的综合影响.     

Inversion of silica-stabilized emulsions induced by particle concentration

Emulsions of equal volumes of a cyclic silicone oil and water stabilized by fumed silica nanoparticles alone can be inverted from oil-in-water (o/w) to water-in-oil (w/o) by simply increasing the concentration of particles. The phenomenon is found to be crucially dependent both on the inherent hydrophobicity of the particles and on their initial location. Inversion only occurs in systems with particles of intermediate hydrophobicity when dispersed in oil; emulsions prepared from the same particles but initially dispersed in water remain o/w at all particle concentrations. The stability and drop size distributions in the different emulsions are compared. Various hypotheses are put forward and argued to explain this novel inversion route including adsorption of oil onto particle surfaces, hysteresis of contact angle affecting particle wettability in situ, and the structure of particle dispersions in oil or water prior to emulsification inferred from rheology and light scattering measurements. We propose that the tendency for particles to behave more hydrophobically at higher concentrations in oil is due to the reduction in the effective silanol content at their surfaces as a result of gel formation via silanol-silanol hydrogen bonds. In water, solvation of particle surfaces prevents this from occurring and particles behave as hydrophilic ones at all concentrations. A concentration-induced change in particle wettability is thus advanced.     

Influence of natural organic matter on the deposition kinetics of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) on silica

The influence of humic acid and alginate, two major components of natural organic matter (NOM), on deposition kinetics of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) on silica was examined in both NaCl and CaCl(2) solutions over a wide range of environmentally relevant ionic strengths utilizing a quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation. Deposition kinetics of both soluble EPS and bound EPS extracted from four bacterial strains with different characteristics was investigated. EPS deposition on humic acid-coated silica surfaces was found to be much lower than that on bare silica surfaces under all examined conditions. In contrast, pre-coating the silica surfaces with alginate enhanced EPS deposition in both NaCl and CaCl(2) solutions. More repulsive electrostatic interaction between EPS and surface contributed to the reduced EPS deposition on humic acid-coated silica surface. The trapping effect induced by the rough alginate layer resulted in the greater EPS deposition on alginate-coated surfaces in NaCl solutions, whereas surface heterogeneities on alginate layer facilitated favorable interactions with EPS in CaCl(2) solutions. The presence of dissolved background humic acid and alginate in solutions both significantly retarded EPS deposition on silica surfaces due to the greater steric and electrostatics repulsion.