Effect of pH Variations on the Yield Stress of Calcium Bentonite Slurry Treated with pH-Responsive Polymer

The pH-responsive polymers, such as polyacrylamide (PAM), show distinct conformational states according to the pH of their environmental groundwater. Therefore, the interactions between clay–polymer and polymer–water molecules, which determine the yield stress of bentonite–polymer composites, can be affected by the pH of groundwater. This study aims to evaluate the effect of pH variation on the yield stress of calcium bentonite treated with PAM. The yield stresses (τy) of untreated and PAM treated clays were measured with varying volume fractions of solid (VF = 10–23%) and under varying pH conditions (pH = 7.6–9.6). In addition, the zeta potential was measured for both untreated and treated clays to figure out the change in the surface charge of the mineral surface due to PAM treatment. The results of this study demonstrate that τy for treated clay is higher than that for untreated clay at a given VF, because van der Walls attraction dominates electrostatic repulsion in the case of treated clay. Due to the change in conformational states of PAM and the consequent change in surface charge that comes with varying pH, the pH-dependent change in τy of treated clay is significantly different from that of untreated clay.