ABSTRACT
The chemical nature of the particle surface is one of the main factors determining the dispersibility of the solid and the stability of the dispersion. The chemical characterization of the particle surface is therefore of utmost importance for a rational formulation of dispersions. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), commonly termed as an electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA), is eminently suited to the study of surfaces. The relaxation of the electron back into the ground state liberates energy which can be emitted as a photon, generating conventional X-ray emission. Appearance potential spectroscopy is used mainly as a high-resolution technique for examining the electronic structure of atoms in the surface region. Ion scattering spectrometry is based on the assumption that a bombarding ion undergoes a binary collision with an atom in the substrate and loses energy according to the kinetic energy exchange. An interesting use of dye adsorption for investigating the surface structure is the preadsorption technique.
