Atomic Force Microscopy of Hydrolysed Polyacrylamide Adsorption onto Calcium Carbonate

In this work, the interaction of hydrolysed polyacrylamide (HPAM) of two molecular weights (F3330, 11–13 MDa; F3530, 15–17 MDa) with calcium carbonate (CaCO(3)) was studied via atomic force microscopy (AFM). In the absence of polymers at 1.7 mM and 1 M NaCl, good agreement with DLVO theory was observed. At 1.7 mM NaCl, repulsive interaction during approach at approximately 20 nm and attractive adhesion of approximately 400 pN during retraction was measured, whilst, at 1 M NaCl, no repulsion during approach was found. Still, a significantly larger adhesion of approximately 1400 pN during retraction was observed. In the presence of polymers, results indicated that F3330 displayed higher average adhesion (450–625 pN) and interaction energy (43–145 aJ) with CaCO(3) than F3530’s average adhesion (85–88 pN) and interaction energy (8.4–11 aJ). On the other hand, F3530 exerted a longer steric repulsion distance (70–100 nm) than F3330 (30–70 nm). This was likely due to the lower molecular weight. F3330 adopted a flatter configuration on the calcite surface, creating more anchor points with the surface in the form of train segments. The adhesion and interaction energy of both HPAM with CaCO(3) can be decreased by increasing the salt concentration. At 3% NaCl, the average adhesion and interaction energy of F3330 was 72–120 pN and 5.6–17 aJ, respectively, while the average adhesion and interaction energy of F3530 was 11.4–48 pN and 0.3–2.98 aJ, respectively. The reduction of adhesion and interaction energy was likely due to the screening of the COO(−) charged group of HPAM by salt cations, leading to a reduction of electrostatic attraction between the negatively charged HPAM and the positively charged CaCO(3).