Sol Methods

     • Electrophoretic Mobility

Electrophoretic mobility is a method used to measure the movement of charged particles in an electrical field (electrophoresis), and provides the measurement of zeta potential of the particle. The zeta potential is the potential at the point of shear. All ions and liquid associated with the particle which move with the particle in the field are inside the plane of shear. Those ions outside and the liquid associated with these ions are sheared away from the moving particle. The zeta potential is affected by potential determining ions such as the proton or hydrolyzable ions such as phosphate which specifically bind with the surface of colloidal hydroxide particles. This information is important as it provides an experimental means of characterizing the double layer associated with our sols. In our case, we use a Malvern Zeta Sizer to perform these measurements.