Talk:Flocculation

"The following chemicals are used as flocculants"
No they're not! The first table is solely of coagulants, not flocculants. There's a world of difference. A coagulant is an ionic substance with a small highly charged ion that attracts several of the suspended particles by attracting charged groups on the surface of that particle. A flocculant is a polymer that binds two suspended particles by chemically forming a carbon bridge between the two. I'm not sure if the second table contains any flocculants either, they look like viscosity enhancers to me. Mollwollfumble (talk) 19:36, 4 May 2011 (UTC)
 * This might be your personal definition? Try to read the whole article: Flocculation is synonymous with agglomeration, aggregation, and coagulation / coalescence. --Langbein Rise (talk) 08:46, 5 May 2011 (UTC)

The terms may be synonymous in some loose general sense, but certainly not in either technological or chemical applications. More detail required. Putting this sentence right after the IUPAC definition is misleading, as the IUPAC certainly does not agree on them all meaning the same. To do... AlanParkerFrance (talk) 14:37, 19 January 2013 (UTC)


 * I agree - we should hae a separate page for coagulants. They're a different set of chemicals ahnd they serve different purposes (although they're often used together). Tara Zieminek (talk) 17:19, 2 May 2015 (UTC)

Would Be Helpful To Define Cake
To the uninformed, it is not clear what a cake is here:

there is no formation of a cake — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.14.154.3 (talk) 08:39, 5 April 2012 (UTC)

Expanded a closely related page on particle aggregation
Eventually, the present page could be merged with this one. I think "particle aggregation" is the more generic term, whereby the terms "coagulation" and "flocculation" are more old-fashioned but basically synonyms as far I can tell. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Williams12357 (talk • contribs) 09:31, 10 April 2012 (UTC)

No, not true, in my opinion. Coagulation and flocculation have precise meanings in colloid science. Flocculation has a precise meaning in water engineering.

AlanParkerFrance (talk) 14:41, 19 January 2013 (UTC)

So please expand the article and explain the differences between coagulation and flocculation and the different meanings of flocculation in colloid science and in water engineering. Bubblerock2 (talk) 19:24, 4 February 2013 (UTC)

Redirect of this page to particle aggregation proposed
I'd propose to eliminate this page, and redirect the flocculation aratile to particle aggregation where the some of the specificies of flocculation are also discussed. Thanks for feedback, if any. Williams12357 (talk) 18:51, 20 May 2012 (UTC)


 * Sounds like a sensible proposal. Bubblerock2 (talk) 15:18, 27 May 2012 (UTC)

Clarifying agent not necessary
The opening line reads "a process wherein colloids come out of suspension in the form of floc or flakes by the addition of a clarifying agent". My understanding is that flocculation happens even without the addition of a clarifying agent. Nanoparticle suspensions will come out of suspension "spontaneously", without the use of a clarifying agent, while still being classed as colloids. So unless there are objections I'll be removing that last part of the opening sentence. Larryisgood (talk) 13:54, 13 April 2013 (UTC)