Abstract
Adhesion between cells of E. coli and pyrophyllite or kaolinite was studied quantitatively with the Coulter Counter. Cells adhered rapidly to a clay particle and formed a cell-clay complex. Cell-clay complexes were stable on the acid side and unstable on the alkaline side in the case of the clays homoionic to Na+ (BC complex of type I). Clays treated with Cu2+, Co2+ or Fe3+ adhered more cells than clays homoionic to Na+, and the complex was stable on the alkaline side and unstable on the acid side (BC complex of type II). Furthermore, the cell-clay complexes adhered to each other or to other clay particles and formed cell-clay aggregates at a much slower rate.
