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Fig. 4 | Particle and Fibre Toxicology

Fig. 4

From: Revisiting the paradigm of silica pathogenicity with synthetic quartz crystals: the role of crystallinity and surface disorder

Fig. 4

Z plot (ζ potential vs pH) of as-grown n-Qz-syn (a) and μ-Qz-syn (b), and fractured μ-Qz-syn-f (c) and Qz-f (d) quartz crystals. Experimental points acquired with at least three measurements are fitted with a non-linear curve to help the reader’s eye. The slope of the tangent line at the inflection point is a convenient estimate of the heterogeneity of surface silanol acidity (see Additional file 1: Table S1). The steeper the slope of the tangent line the more homogeneous the acidic nature of the silanols at the surface

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