Abstract
Dissolution of BaCO 3 and its effect on the dispersion behavior of aqueous BaCO 3 suspensions at various pH values have been investigated. The amount of leached Ba 2+ decreases with increasing pH value, which agrees with thermodynamically calculated results. The dissolution of BaCO 3 also causes an increase in pH value of the suspension, but the change decreases with increasing initial pH value. The isoelectric point (IEP) of leached BaCO 3 powder is at a pH of ∼10-10.5 and remains unchanged with increasing solids loading. The IEP of BaCO 3 shows no significant change with added KCl or K 2 CO 3 , but shifts to a higher pH with increasing concentration of added BaCl 2 .