Investigating the effect of pH on the surface chemistry of an amino silane treated nano silica

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of different PHS on the surface chemistry of fumed silica treated with aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS). Design/methodology/approach - The reaction conditions involved variation of pH ranging from acidic to alkaline. Different analytical techniques including FT-IR spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), CHN and Zeta potential analyses were employed to investigate the surface chemistry of treated particles. In addition, the stability of silanised silica dispersions were studied using turbidimetric and rheometric measurements. Findings - It was revealed that in all conditions silica was more or less chemically grafted by the silane. When the pH of treating bath was adjusted to 1-2 prior and during the reaction, 58 percent grafting was observed, as obtained by CHN and TGA analyses. At very alkaline conditions, however, the grafting content declined to 29 percent. The variations in grafting were dependent on the silane hydrolysis and its further condensation with the silica surface. Zeta potential measurements showed a drastic change from -7.1 mv to + 18.01 mv (at pH 7) for the untreated particle and the one with the highest grafting, respectively. The dispersion stability of differently treated particles varied in solvents with different Hansen solubility parameters (HSP). Moreover, due to the variations of surface chemistry of particles, their rheological behaviours were significantly influenced. Originality/value - The results obtained in this work showed that the surface chemistry of fume silica could be tuned with treating method. The highest content of grafting led to a better dispersion in solvents having greater hydrogen bonding component and to an inferior dispersion in solvents with higher polar component.