Electrokinetic potentials of mineral oxides and calcium carbonate in artificial seawater.

Electroacoustic method was used to measure the zeta potentials of mineral oxides and calcium carbonate in artificial sea water (pH 8), and the following values were obtained: synthetic hematite: 0.87 mV; goethite: 1.01 mV; fumed silica: -3.56 mV; quartz: -1.38 mV; calcium carbonate: 1.91 mV. The absolute values of the zeta potentials obtained in the present study are substantially lower than the zeta potentials in seawater reported by other authors. Our results indicate that the effect of electrostatic repulsion in the interactions between the particles of these materials in seawater is negligible.