INTERACTION FORCES AT HIGH IONIC STRENGTHS - THE ROLE OF POLAR INTERFACIAL INTERACTIONS

The interaction of soluble salt particles in their saturated brines is of interest from both a fundamental and practical perspective. The st ate of dispersion/aggregation of alkali halide particles as determined by optical microscopy has been described based on nonequilibrium elec trokinetic measurements for alkali halides. These results indicate tha t the sign of the surface charge has a significant effect on the exten t of particle dispersion/aggregation. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is now being used to directly measure the interaction forces responsible for the stability of these alkali halide aggregates observed in optic al microscopy studies. These experimental results can be explained bas ed on the interfacial polar interaction theory. In this regard the nat ure of such particle interaction forces at high ionic strengths is exa mined to improve our understanding of these systems. (C) 1997 Academic Press.