Stability determination of steric-stabilized nanoparticles-Numerical and experimental analysis

Abstract

Particle sedimentation is an essential tool for determining the stability behaviour of colloidal dispersions. In this study, we derive new analytical equations of motion for estimating the settling velocity-time function of particles sedimenting in colloidal dispersions under uniformly accelerated sedimentation model. The stability behaviour of spherically shaped TiO 2 nanoparticles synthesized by reproducible sol-gel process and steric-stabilized by commercial surfactant Brij 30 were analysed both numerically and experimentally. Our newly derived analytical equation was used for the numerical analysis while experimentally a multiple light scattering analysis was applied. We show in the study that increase in solid volume fraction means decrease in porosity within the colloidal dispersion system and dispersion stability estimated by particle sedimentation rate is accurate. © 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.