STUDY OF THE COAGULATION OF COLOIDAL PARTICLES OF AgI UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF CHITOSAN WITH ALUMINUM SULFATE

Abstract

The objective of the present work was to determine the optimal conditions for the coagulation of suspended particles of silver iodide of negative charge by the action of solutions of chitosan, aluminum sulfate and the mixed action of both coagulants. The suspension of colloidal particles of AgI was obtained by mixing diluted solutions of KI and AgNO3 in excess of KI. In all the experiments the volume of the colloidal system was 600 mL and pH= 6. The optimal parameters for the coagulation process were determined based on the Jar Test method. For the chitosan solution the optimal parameters were: concentration 0.01%, pH = 4.5 and a volume of 25 mL; for aluminum sulfate: concentration 30 ppm, pH = 4.0 and volume 25 mL. In the case of the mixed action of both coagulants, the optimal parameters were 5 mL of a 30 ppm solution of aluminum sulfate at pH 4.0 and 20 mL of a 0.01% chitosan solution at pH = 4.5. Based on these parameters, the kinetics for the coagulation process of the suspension of AgI was studied by means of the turbidimetry method and it was determined that the coagulation process was rapid and ended approximately 3 minutes after beginning of the process.