Adhesion of alkane as a functional group on muscovite and quartz: dependence on pH and contact time

Klaus Juhl*, Christian Schack Pedersen, Nicolas Emile Bovet, Kim Nicole Dalby, Tue Hassenkam, Martin Peter Andersson, Denis Okhrimenko, Susan Louise Svane Stipp

*Corresponding author for this work

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19 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The interactions between mineral surfaces and organic molecules in water control many processes in nature and in the production of modern materials. To improve the understanding of fluid-surface interactions, we investigated the interface behavior of quartz and muscovite, a model for clay minerals, in aqueous solutions where the pH and composition were controlled. We used atomic force microscopy (AFM) in chemical force mapping (CFM) mode to measure adhesion using tips functionalized with alkyl, -CH3. By combining adhesion forces measured as a function of pH, with data from streaming potential experiments and DLVO calculations, we were able to determine the surface charge density. We observed increased adhesion between the mineral surface and the hydrophobic tips as the contact time increased from 7 ms to ?2 s. The di ffusion of dissolved ions takes time, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations did not indicate a strong hydration of the mineral surfaces. Therefore, we interpret that the loss of ions from the confined space between the tip and sample is a likely explanation of the correlation between the dwell time and adhesion. The maximum adhesion increase with dwell time for muscovite, i.e., 400 ± 77 pN, was considerably larger than for quartz, 84 ± 15 pN, which fits with the different surface structure and composition of the two minerals. We propose two mechanisms to explain these results: (1) cations that are structured in the solution and on the surface remain associated at the tip-sample interface initially but diffuse away during extended contact time and (2) adventitious carbon, the organic material that comes spontaneously from air and solution, can diffuse to the tip-sample interface during contact. This material decreases the surface energy by aggregating near the alkyl tip and increases adhesion between the tip and sample.(Figure Presented).

Original languageEnglish
JournalLangmuir
Volume30
Issue number48
Pages (from-to)14476-14485
Number of pages10
ISSN0743-7463
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2014

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