The interfacial charging of Al(OH)3 (gibbsite and bayerite) and Al2O3 has been studied. For Al(OH)3 it
can be shown that the very strong variation in charging behavior for different preparations is related to
the relative presence of differently reacting crystal planes. The edge faces of the hexagonal gibbsite crystals
are proton reactive over the whole pH range, in contrast to the 001 plane, which is mainly uncharged below
pH = 10. On this 001 face only doubly coordinated surface groups are found, in contrast to the edges which
also have singly coordinated surface groups. The results are fully in agreement with the predictions of the
Multi site complexation (MUSIC) model. The proton adsorption, electrolyte ion adsorption, and shift of
the IEP of gibbsite and aluminum oxide have been modeled simultaneously. For gibbsite, the ion pair
formation of Na is larger than that of Cl, as is evidenced by modeling the experimentally observed upward
shift of the IEP and charge reversal at high electrolyte concentrations. All these experimental results can
be satisfactorily modeled with the MUSIC model, including the experimental surface potential of aluminum
oxide (ISFET).