SEDIMENT STRUCTURE OF FINE SILICA SPHERES IN AN ELECTROLYTE SOLUTION

Monodispersed fine silica spheres were sedimented in KC] solution unde r an electrophoretic force applied in the gravitational or antigravita tional direction. Effects of particle size, particle volume fraction, electrolyte concentration and applied field intensity were experimenta lly investigated. A Fast Fourier Transform analysis was conducted for the sediment surface and the degree of ordering of particles was evalu ated. Two different conditions were found to affect the particle order ing, one related to the kinetic energy of the settling particle and th e other related to the agglomeration.