ELECTROKINETIC CHARACTERIZATION OF POLYDISPERSE COLLOIDAL PARTICLES

By measuring the distribution in electrophoretic mobility of dispersed colloidal particles as well as their size distribution, detailed info rmation can be obtained about the electrokinetic properties of the sur faces of the particles. Instead of characterizing a colloidal particle solely by its zeta-potential, knowledge of the mobility and size dist ribution allows the determination of other parameters, such as, the St ern potential, the thickness of the immobilized surface layer, and the anomolous surface conductivity in this immobilized layer or in the St ern layer. Model calculations are presented to show how this informati on can be obtained. (C) 1994 Academic Press, Inc.