Surface Modification of SiC Powder with Sodium Humate: Adsorption Kinetics, Equilibrium, and Mechanism

Highly dispersible SiC powder was prepared using sodium humate as a modifier. The results showed that the ζ-potential absolute value of the modified SiC powder increased from 13.1 to 38.7 mV when the adsorption capacity of sodium humate on the SiC surface was 2.368 mg/g. The slurry with a maximum solid content of 65 vol % was obtained using the modified SiC powder, and the minimum viscosity value was 0.322 Pa s at a solid content of 50 vol %. The adsorption kinetics equation of sodium humate on the SiC surface is t/q_t = 0.6253t + 11.0472, which is in accordance with the pseudo-second-order kinetics model. In addition, the isotherm equation, ln q_e = 0.461 ln C_e – 0.334, agrees with the Freundlich model. The adsorption energy of sodium humate on the SiC surface was 0.8280 kJ/mol, indicating that the adsorption type was physical adsorption.