Dynamics and mechanisms of asbestos-fiber aggregate growth in water

摘要: Most colloidal particles including asbestos fibers form aggregates in water, when solution chemistry provides favorable conditions. To date, the growth of colloidal aggregates has been observed in many model systems under optical and scanning electron microscopy; however, all of these studies have used near-spherical particles. The highly elongated nature of asbestos fibers may cause anomalous aggregate growth and morphology, but this has never been examined. Although the exposure pathway of concern for asbestos is through the air, asbestos particles typically reside in soil that is at least partially saturated, and aggregates formed in the aqueous phase may influence the mobility of particles in the environment. Here we study solution-phase aggregation kinetics of asbestos fibers using a liquid-cell by in situ microscopy, over micron to centimeter length scales and from a tenth of a second to hours. We …