Surface activity and flocculation behavior of polyethylene glycol-functionalized silica nanoparticles

Sanna Maria Sofi Björkegren; Lars Nordstierna; Anders Törncrona; Michael E Persson; Anders E C Palmqvist

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2015.04.043

Surface activity and flocculation behavior of polyethylene glycol-functionalized silica nanoparticles

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2015 Aug 15:452:215-223. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2015.04.043. Epub 2015 Apr 27.

Authors

Sanna Maria Sofi Björkegren¹, Lars Nordstierna², Anders Törncrona³, Michael E Persson⁴, Anders E C Palmqvist²

Affiliations

¹ Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-412 96 Göteborg, Sweden; AkzoNobel Pulp and Performance Chemicals AB, SE-445 80 Bohus, Sweden. Electronic address: sanna.bjorkegren@chalmers.se.
² Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-412 96 Göteborg, Sweden.
³ AkzoNobel Pulp and Performance Chemicals AB, SE-445 80 Bohus, Sweden.
⁴ Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-412 96 Göteborg, Sweden; AkzoNobel Pulp and Performance Chemicals AB, SE-445 80 Bohus, Sweden.

PMID: 25957235
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2015.04.043

Abstract

Colloidal silica nanoparticles have been functionalized with methyl polyethylene glycol silane (mPEG silane) and the PEGylated particles have been characterized with focus on exploring their surface chemical properties. The degree of surface functionalization was quantified using NMR diffusometry, and the measurements showed that the silane binds covalently to the silica surface. Samples with surface coverages ranging from 0.068 to 0.315 μmol silane/m(2) have been analyzed. The functionalized particles proved to be surface active and showed a significant reduction in surface charge and zeta potential with increasing degree of PEG functionalization. All samples showed colloidal stability at neutral pH and above within the range studied. At lower pH, the samples with low surface coverage displayed a reversible flocculation behavior, while samples with a high surface coverage and samples without functionalization remained stable. This suggests that steric stabilization is effective at low pH when the surface coverage is high enough; electrostatic stabilization is effective for samples without functionalization; and that inter-particle PEG-silica interactions cause flocculation of particles with too low degrees of PEG functionalization.

Keywords: Dynamic light scattering (DLS); NMR diffusometry; PEGylated colloidal silica; Surface activity.