Adsorption of Corrosion Inhibitors onto Iron Carbonate (FeCO3) Studied by Zeta Potential Measurements

Understanding the formation of colloidal mercury in acidic wastewater with high concentration of chloride ions by electrocapillary curves

Acidic wastewater with high concentration of chloride ions was generated from washing elemental mercury (Hg(0)) existed in the roast flue gas by water. This process was simulated by mercury drops entering the electrolytes with its composition changed according to the characteristics of acidic wastewater. Electrocapillary curves of different electrolytes were determined by dropping mercury electrode to explore the formation mechanism of colloidal mercury in acidic wastewater. The changes of zeta (ζ) potentials were also obtained. The results indicate that chloride ions have a great impact on the formation of colloidal mercury. Thermodynamic calculation demonstrated that the main mercury species in acidic wastewater were HgCl2 (aq), HgCl3 (-), and HgCl4 (2-). Moreover, the model of colloidal mercury structure in acidic wastewater was established. Based on the changes of Gibbs free energy for ions passing through stern layer and metallic bond theory, it can be inferred that HgCl4 (2-) was preferentially over-adsorbed on the mercury interface by the weak π chemical bond, and then positive charge ions such as heavy metal ions and H(+) were adsorbed due to the electrostatic force; thus, the colloidal mercury was formed.

Quantitative prediction of the reduction of corrosion inhibitor effectiveness due to parasitic adsorption onto a competitor surface

We have investigated how the effectiveness of a corrosion inhibitor added to an aqueous solution to suppress the corrosion rate of steel is reduced by the addition of sand. The equilibrium adsorption isotherms of the inhibitor with respect to both the steel surface (consisting of iron carbonate under the corrosion conditions used here) and the sand surface have been measured. The results enable the quantitative calculation of how the surface concentration of inhibitor at the steel surface is reduced by sand addition. Combining the adsorption information with measurements of how the steel corrosion rate depends on the inhibitor surface concentration enables the quantitative prediction of the inhibitor effectiveness as a function of sand concentration. Excellent agreement is obtained between calculated and measured values of the inhibitor performance as functions of both inhibitor and sand concentrations. This methodology demonstrates how the optimization of a corrosion inhibitor formulation for specific application conditions should take into account the parasitic adsorption of the inhibitor onto the competitor surfaces present.

The pH-dependent surface charging and points of zero charge: V. Update

The points of zero charge (PZC) and isoelectric points (IEP) from the recent literature are discussed. This study is an update of the previous compilation [M. Kosmulski, Surface Charging and Points of Zero Charge, CRC, Boca Raton, FL, 2009] and of its previous update [J. Colloid Interface Sci. 337 (2009) 439]. In several recent publications, the terms PZC/IEP have been used outside their usual meaning. Only the PZC/IEP obtained according to the methods recommended by the present author are reported in this paper, and the other results are ignored. PZC/IEP of albite, sepiolite, and sericite, which have not been studied before, became available over the past 2 years.