Interactions between silica particles in the presence of multivalent coions.

Forces between charged silica particles in solutions of multivalent coions are measured with colloidal probe technique based on atomic force microscopy. The concentration of 1 : z electrolytes is systematically varied to understand the behavior of electrostatic interactions and double-layer properties in these systems. Although the coions are multivalent the Derjaguin, Landau, Verwey, and Overbeek (DLVO) theory perfectly describes the measured force profiles. The diffuse-layer potentials and regulation properties are extracted from the forces profiles by using the DLVO theory. The dependencies of the diffuse-layer potential and regulation parameter shift to lower concentration with increasing coion valence when plotted as a function of concentration of 1 : z salt. Interestingly, these profiles collapse to a master curve if plotted as a function of monovalent counterion concentration.