Effect of solubility on the determination of the protonable surface site density of oxyhydroxides

The impact of the dissolved quantity of aluminum on the calculation of surface charge from titration experiments of hydrated gamma-alumina was investigated. Two methods were developed to correct this effect: direct determination of aluminum in solution in batch titration experiments and application of a dissolution rate model in continuous titration experiments. There is a large effect of dissolution on surface charge determination for pH > 10 and pH < 4.5. Application of these correction methods to these pH ranges lead to apparent saturation surface charges of 1.3 and 2.3 at nm(-2), respectively. The last value seems to be the real proton-active site density, while the hydroxyl-active site density cannot be reached for easily achievable basic pH values. (C) 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.