Abstract

The interaction of soluble salt particles in their saturated brines is of interest from both a fundamental and practical perspective. The state of dispersion/aggregation of alkali halide particles as determined by optical microscopy has been described based on nonequilibrium electrokinetic measurements for alkali halides. These results indicate that the sign of the surface charge has a significant effect on the extent of particle dispersion/aggregation. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is now being used to directly measure the interaction forces responsible for the stability of these alkali halide aggregates observed in optical microscopy studies. These experimental results can be explained based on the interfacial polar interaction theory. In this regard the nature of such particle interaction forces at high ionic strengths is examined to improve our understanding of these systems.