The electric properties of the bitumen/water interface Part II. Application of the ionizable surface-group model

Abstract The Ionizable Surface-Group Model has been applied to explain the electric properties of the bitumen/water interface. The model assumes that the surface charge of the bitumen is derived from the dissociation of acid groups on the surface and calculates their dissociation as a function of both bulk pH and electrolyte concentration. The theory predicts that the dissociation behavior of carboxyl groups at the bitumen/water interface depends strongly on the total surface density of charge groups and on the electrolyte concentration in the aqueous solution. The theory was subsequently tested by comparing the predicted and measured electrophoretic mobilities of bitumen particles in aqueous solutions ranging in bulk pH from 4 to 11 and in electrolyte concentration from 10−4 to 10−1M NaCl. The results indicate that the surface charge of the bitumen/water interface can be explained by the dissociation of carboxyl group moieties belonging to surfactants naturally present in bitumen. The measured electrophoretic mobilities in 10−4M NaCl also demonstrate the existence of a maximum in mobility at high zeta potentials which is due to the electrophoretic relaxation effect.

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