Influence of wetting and dispersing agents on the interaction between talc and hydrophobic particles

The interactions between a natural talc surface and a model hydrophobic particle have been investigated in aqueous solutions by employing the atomic force microscopy (AFM) colloidal probe technique. The results demonstrate the presence of long-range attractive forces due to bridging via preadsorbed or induced bubbles/cavities. Due to the natural heterogeneity of talc, and the stochastic nature of the bubble bridging process, the variability in the range and magnitude of the attraction is larger than that for cases when other interactions predominate or than that when only model surfaces are used. Addition of poly(acrylic acid), a common dispersing agent, did not affect the measured forces. Thus, we conclude that poly(acrylic acid) does not adsorb to the basal plane of talc. In sharp contrast, addition of Pluronic PE6400, a nonionic triblock polymer used as wetting agent, resulted in complete removal of the bubble-induced attractive force. Instead, a short-range steric repulsion is the dominating feature. Clearly, Pluronic PE6400 is able to displace air bubbles from the surface and prevent their formation when the particles come into contact. These are suggested to be important features of efficient wetting agents.