title: Charging Mechanism for Polymer Particles in Nonpolar Surfactant Solutions: Influence of Polymer Type and Surface Functionality.
abstract: Surface charging phenomena in nonpolar dispersions are exploited in a wide range of industrial applications, but their mechanistic understanding lags far behind. We investigate the surface charging of a variety of polymer particles with different surface functionality in alkane solutions of a custom-synthesized and purified polyisobutylene succinimide (PIBS) polyamine surfactant and a related commercial surfactant mixture commonly used to control particle charge. We find that the observed electrophoretic particle mobility cannot be explained exclusively by donor-acceptor interactions between surface functional groups and surfactant polar moieties. Our results instead suggest an interplay of multiple charging pathways, which likely include the competitive adsorption of ions generated among inverse micelles in the solution bulk. We discuss possible factors affecting the competitive adsorption of micellar ions, such as the chemical nature of the particle bulk material and the size asymmetry between inverse micelles of opposite charge.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology , 311 Ferst Drive Northwest, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States.
authors.forename: Joohyung
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: HP Incorporated, 16399 West Bernardo Drive, San Diego, California 92127, United States.
authors.forename: Zhang-Lin
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology , 311 Ferst Drive Northwest, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States.
authors.forename: Sven Holger
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Behrens