Se. Truesdail et al., APPARATUS FOR STREAMING POTENTIAL MEASUREMENTS ON GRANULAR FILTER MEDIA, Journal of environmental engineering, 124(12), 1998, pp. 1228-1232
This paper is intended to provide the necessary information to constru
ct and properly operate a simple streaming potential apparatus capable
of measuring the zeta potential of granular media. Through an underst
anding of the principles of the technique, such a device can readily b
e used in the study of a variety of granular materials including unsta
ble and dynamic surfaces, as shown for surface coatings and even biofi
lm growth. The simplified mathematical theory of the streaming potenti
al is herein explained, as well as operational factors and the general
reasons for nonreproducible measurements such as electrode maintenanc
e, electrode polarization, nonzero rest potentials, and sample equilib
ration. This specific apparatus design is intended for use with granul
ar materials and has intentionally been developed in a simplistic fash
ion to encourage wider usage of the technique. The overall precision o
f this instrument was +/-10% based on a 95% confidence interval. In ad
dition, the accuracy of the device was found to be very good based on
comparisons with literature values.