Flocculation vs. Deflocculation

Flocculationnoun

A condition in which clays, polymers or other small charged particles become attached and form a fragile structure, a floc.

Flocculationnoun

The process by which small particles of fine soils and sediments aggregate into larger lumps.

Flocculationnoun

the process of flocculating; forming woolly cloudlike aggregations

Flocculation

Flocculation, in the field of chemistry, is a process by which colloidal particles come out of suspension to sediment under the form of floc or flake, either spontaneously or due to the addition of a clarifying agent. The action differs from precipitation in that, prior to flocculation, colloids are merely suspended, under the form of a stable dispersion, in a liquid and are not truly dissolved in solution.Coagulation and flocculation are important processes in water treatment with coagulation aimed to destabilize and aggregate particles through chemical interactions between the coagulant and colloids, and flocculation to sediment the destabilized particles by causing their aggregation into floc.

Deflocculationnoun

The dispersion of an aggregate to form a stable colloid; the reverse of coagulation or flocculation