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Abstract The thickness of the thin wetting film depends on disjoining pressure forces, and it evolves with pH evolution due to brine acidification at the physical and chemical conditions of geological carbon dioxide storage becoming thinner in response to dewetting. In the literature, molecular dynamic simulation (MDS) studies have been employed to understand the effect of pressure/capillary pressure on the thin wetting film evolution. In this paper, a theoretical approach based on the Frumkin–Derjaguin Equation (FDE), models of electric double layer repulsion, and van der Waals forces have been used for the calculation of the wetting film thickness. The approach excluded hydration forces contribution to disjoining pressure forces due partly to its poorly understood nature, and partly to the high salinity conditions encountered in geological carbon storage. Due to its promising global storage capacity compared to other lithologies, the carbon dioxide–brine–silica systems was chosen to simulate sandstone saline aquifers. The validation of the model benefited much from literature resources on data and a universal model of carbon dioxide–brine interfacial tension. Calculated results confirm pH-induced dewetting and they follow trends controlled by pH and pressure as found in the literature. The novelty of the paper can be seen from the fact that it has demonstrated a theoretical supplement to MDS studies in addition to justifying the fundamental utility and versatility of the FDE. Moreover, the paper links for the first time, a transcendental equation to the thin wetting film theory encountered in the carbon dioxide–solid–brine system found in geological carbon storage.

Casimir–van der Waals forces are important in the self-assembly processes of nanoparticles. In this paper, using a hybrid approach based on Lifshitz theory of Casimir–van der Waals interactions and corrections due to the shape of the nanoparticles, it is shown that for non-spherical nanoparticles, the usual Hamaker approach overestimates the magnitude of the interaction. In particular, the study considers nanoplates of different thicknesses, nanocubes assembled with their faces parallel to each other, and tilted nanocubes, where the main interaction is between edges.

A simple relationship between the Hamaker constant and the Hansen solubility parameters for non-polar liquids is derived by combining a Hamaker constant/surface tension relationship derived by Israelachvili and a Hansen solubility parameters/surface tension relationship derived by Abbott. With this relationship, one can easily estimate the Hamaker constant of non-polar liquids on the basis of the database of the Hansen solubility parameters. This is an entirely new method for calculating the Hamaker constant without recourse to data on the frequency-dependent dielectric permittivity of those substances (which are required for the rigorous Lifshitz theory) and laborious numerical calculations.

Surface potential is a key electrochemical property of colloids in the study of particle interactions. However, the specific ion effects are not involved in the existing measuring methods. In this study, approaches for the estimation of the surface potential of montmorillonite with or without consideration of the specific ion effects were explored through the montmorillonite particle aggregation in the presence of Li+, Na+, and K+ ions. The montmorillonite aggregation process exhibited remarkable specific ion effects, and the critical coagulation concentration (CCC) values show the following: Li+ (271.8 mm) > Na+ (130.8 mm) > K+ (85.04 mm). Based on the mathematic relationship between electrostatic repulsion and the van der Waals attractive interaction at the CCC, the fluctuation coefficient ß was obtained. The value of β could quantify the strength of the specific ion effects of different cations. Then, the fluctuation coefficient β was introduced into the classical method for calculating the surface potential, considering the specific ion effects. The quantificational sequence of the ionic specificity of K+ and Na+ was as follows: βK = 1.433 > βNa = 1.187. Simultaneously, the surface potential considering specific ion effects can be obtained by introducing this coefficient. Our findings provide ideas for getting reliable surface potentials of charged particles in different electrolyte environments.

Under ambient conditions, surfaces are rapidly modified and contaminated by absorbance of molecules and a variety of nanoparticles that drastically change their chemical and physical properties. The atomic force microscope tip–sample system can be considered a model system for investigating a variety of nanoscale phenomena. In the present work we use atomic force microscopy to directly image nanoscale contamination on surfaces, and to characterize this contamination by using multidimensional spectroscopy techniques. By acquisition of spectroscopy data as a function of tip–sample voltage and tip–sample distance, we are able to determine the contact potential, the Hamaker constant and the effective thickness of the dielectric layer within the tip–sample system. All these properties depend strongly on the contamination within the tip–sample system. We propose to access the state of contamination of real surfaces under ambient conditions using advanced atomic force microscopy techniques.

Graphene is a honeycomb hexagonal two-dimensional (2D) crystal nanomaterial with a thickness of only 0.334 nm. It has been widely used and studied because of its ultra-thin 2D nano-characteristics and excellent electrical, thermal, optical, and mechanical properties. With the continuous in-depth study of graphene, the liquid-phase dispersion of graphene has also achieved breakthroughs. This review summarizes the research progress of the liquid-phase exfoliation mechanism, exfoliation method, stable dispersion mechanism, and dispersion method of graphene in recent years. The research situations of the Hamaker constant theory in exfoliation mechanism and Hansen solubility coefficient theory in stable dispersion mechanism are mainly discussed. The shortcomings of the research are summarized and analyzes the graphene liquid phase dispersed in the important challenge in the future. The stable dispersion method of graphene is also summarized. In the future, the π-π interaction will be the most potential method for studying graphene stabilization.

Dispersion quality has a large influence on the resulting properties of filled polymers, hybrids and nanocomposites in general. Reducing the van der Waals forces and therefore, matching the refractive index between the filler and the matrix should improve dispersion in hybrid materials. However, in this case the usual light-based techniques cannot be used to assess dispersion quality. In this work, dispersions containing silica nanoparticles and a solvent mixture of 1-butanol and benzyl alcohol were analysed by rheological methods. The refractive index of the solvent was changed by varying the mixing ratio, and thus the effect of index difference on the filler-matrix interaction was investigated. In agreement with theory, a stronger gel network was observed when the refractive index of filler and solvent were matched. If the difference in refractive index of the two materials became too large, particles and solvent interaction was reduced, and agglomerates were formed. This resulted in a weaker gel network.

Interaction energy calculations that assume smooth and chemically homogeneous surfaces are commonly conducted to explain bacteria retention on solid surfaces, but experiments frequently exhibit signification deviations from these predictions. A potential explanation for these inconsistencies is the ubiquitous presence of nanoscale roughness (NR) and chemical heterogeneity (CH) arising from spatial variability in charge (CH1), Hamaker constant (CH2), and contact angles (CH3) on these surfaces. We present a method to determine the mean interaction energy between a colloid and a solid-water-interface (SWI) when both surfaces contained binary NR and CH. This approach accounts for double layer, van der Waals, Lewis acid-base, and Born interactions. We investigate the influence of NR and CH parameters and solution ionic strength (IS) on interaction energy profiles between hydrophilic and hydrophobic bacteria and the SWI. Increases in CH1 and CH3 reduce the energy barrier and create deeper primary minima on net electrostatically unfavorable surfaces, whereas increasing CH2 diminishes the contribution of the van der Waals interaction in comparison to quartz and makes a more repulsive surface. However, these roles of CH are always greatest on smooth surfaces with larger fractions of CH. In general, increasing CH1 and CH3 have a larger influence on bacteria retention under lower IS conditions, whereas the influence of increasing CH2 is more apparent under higher IS conditions. However, interaction energy profiles are mainly dominated by small fractions of NR, which dramatically lower the energy barrier height and the depths of both the secondary and primary minima. This significantly increases the relative importance of primary to secondary minima interactions on net electrostatically unfavorable surfaces, especially for conditions that produce small energy barriers on smooth surfaces. Energy balance calculations indicate that this primary minimum is sometimes susceptible to diffusive removal depending on the NR and CH parameters.

The effect of the composition of silica-rock and basalt composite in a highly dispersed state on its energy characteristics has been investigat­ed. The dependences for the surface energy, the Gibbs energy and the Ha­maker constant on the system composition have been obtained.