Observation of weak interactions between polystyrene particles and textile fibres

Abstract

The deposition of polystyrene particles onto dispersed fibres of cotton, nylon and polyester has been studied as a function of electrolyte concentration at pH 10.5. The maximum deposition rate constants observed at high ionic strength are in the order polyester > nylon > cotton. On cotton and nylon these are substantially lower than that corresponding to a collision sticking probability of unity. If heterocoagulation plots are interpreted as van der Waals/electrostatic in origin the inferred Hamaker constants also follow the above trend. Moreover, the values are more than an order of magnitude lower than those predicted for typical polymeric organic materials interacting across water. The inverse correlation of the above values with the amounts of water absorbed by each fabric enhances the conclusion made from earlier work that surface diffuseness is a controlling factor in particle–fibre interactions.