The Measurement of the ph Value of Rubber Latex
Abstract E. A. Hauser has stated in his Gow Lectures on “The Colloid Chemistry of Rubber” that the most satisfactory method of determining the ph value of latex is by means of the Wulff ph tester. This instrument, which is manufactured by Messrs. F. and M. Lautenschlager, Münich 2, S.W. 6, determines ph value by a colorimetric method. Strips of gelatin which have been impregnated with various indicators to render them suitable for different portions of the ph range are supplied; the range of ph values has thus been subdivided into five zones, and a scale of comparison colors is supplied for each of these zones. The principle of the instrument is that gelatin is permeable only to the serum of a turbid dispersion such as latex; when an impregnated strip, or, as it is usually termed, an indicator foil, is dipped into the turbid liquid some serum liquid passes within and produces a change in the color of the indicator; at the same time the gelatin, by swelling, prevents any considerable diffusion of this colored portion of the serum into the bulk of the turbid dispersion. The foil is left in the turbid liquid for one minute and then dried in blotting paper. Its color is then compared with the series of colors on the comparison scale supplied.