Adsorption mechanism and dispersion efficiency of three anionic additives [poly(acrylic acid), poly(styrene sulfonate) and HEDP] on zinc oxide.

Adsorption on ZnO of sodium poly(acrylate) (PAA), sodium poly(styrene sulfonate) (PSS) and a monomer surfactant [hydroxyethylidene diphosphonate (HEDP)] was investigated in suspensions initially equilibrated at pH 7. Results demonstrate interplay in the adsorption mechanism between zinc complexation, salt precipitation, and ZnO dissolution. In the case of PAA, the adsorption isotherm exhibits a maximum attributed to the precipitation of zinc polyacrylate. PSS and HEDP formed high-affinity adsorption isotherms, but the plateau adsorption of HEDP was significantly lower than that of PSS. The adsorption isotherm of each additive is divided into two areas. At low additive concentration (high zinc/additive ratio), the total zinc concentration in the solution decreased and the pH increased upon addition. At a higher additive ratio, zinc concentration and pH increased with the organic concentration. The increase in pH is due to the displacement of hydroxyl ions from the surface and the increase in zinc concentration results from the dissolution of ZnO due to the complexation of zinc ions by the organics. The stability of the ZnO dispersions was investigated by measurement of the particle size distribution after addition of various amounts of polymers. The three additives stabilized the ZnO dispersions efficiently once full surface coverage was reached.