The potential difference between the dispersion medium and the stationary layer of fluid attached to the particle is called Zeta potential and it is measured by a zeta potential analyzer. Zeta potential is the charge that develops at the interface between a solid surface and its liquid medium. A scientific term for electrokinetic potential in colloidal dispersions is Zeta potential. This potential, which is measured in MilliVolts, may arise by any of several mechanisms
The degree of electrostatic repulsion between adjacent, similarly charged particles in a dispersion is the magnitude of the Zeta potential. For small molecules and particles, a high zeta potential will confer stability, that is the solution or dispersion will resist aggregation. Attractive forces may exceed this repulsion and the dispersion may break and flocculate if the potential is small. Thus, colloids with high zeta potential (negative or positive) are electrically stabilized while colloids with low zeta potentials tend to coagulate or flocculate.
The zeta potential is connected to the nanoparticles' net surface load. It is important to determine the colloidal stability of charged particles and to consider your system's output under different conditions.
The measurement of zeta potential has important applications in a wide range of industries including; ceramics, pharmaceuticals, medicine, mineral processing, electronics, water purification and industrial waste treatment, Electrodeposition, Paper, Detergency. The nature and structure of the electric double layer at the particle-liquid interface are directly related to Zeta potential measurements. testing of zeta potential Its measurement gives detailed perception into the causes of dispersion, aggregation or flocculation, which can be applied to improve the formulation of dispersions, emulsions and suspensions.
Biomedical
Characterizing the surface of organisms such as bacteria, blood cells, viruses etc is performed by Microelectrophoresis. Chemical methods of analysis can disrupt the organism, zeta potential measurement has the particular merit of providing information which refers precisely to the outermost regions of an organism. This is of particular value since the surface of these organisms is the sites of many phenomena of biological importance. The prime constituents of biological material (protein, lipid, polysaccharide, nucleic acid) exhibit characteristic charge behavior, the magnitude, sign and distribution of which deeply affects its interaction with any other surface or molecule. Changes in the zeta potential of blood elements, tissue cells, vessel walls or components of body fluids can produce metabolic changes or alterations in blood flow properties.
Clay technology
Plate-like particles present in clay, when come in contact with water, usually have negatively charged faces and positively charged edges. The physical properties of clay-water systems such as sedimentation, filtration, swelling, viscosity, yield stress and structural strength are extremely sensitive to the nature of the electric double layer around the particles and the tendency of the particles to aggregate. Wherever colloid stability and/or ion adsorption is involved, Zeta potential measurements provide appropriate information. Results for a concentrated suspension can be related to results of shear and consolidation tests. Control of the mechanical behavior of clay suspensions, using additives in the liquid phase, is also an important feature of soil treatment, oil well drilling, ceramics and other processes involving clay-like materials.
We conduct zeta potential measurements at NISHKA Research with a Malvern Zetasizer Nano ZS instrument fitted with a layer of 632 nm which is working at a detector angle of 173 degrees. A sample is placed into a single folded capillary cell in a zeta potential measurement. The cells have two-conductor electrodes, which contact the voltage applied on the external side of the instrument and fold it in, to contact the inside liquid sample.
