Physicochemical characteristics of tannic acid (tannin) suspensions comprising its stability for a wide range of ionic strength and pH were thoroughly investigated using UV-vis spectrophotometry, dynamic light scattering and microelectrophoretic measurements. These studies allowed to determine the hydrodynamic diameter of the tannic acid that was 1.63 nm for the pH range 3.5-5.5. For pH above 6.0 the hydrodynamic diameter significantly decreased as a result of the tannin hydrolysis. The electrophoretic mobility measurements confirmed that tannic acid is negatively charged for these values of pH and ionic strength 10(-4)-10(-2) M. Therefore, in order to promote adsorption of tannin molecules on negatively charged mica, the poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) supporting monolayers were first adsorbed under diffusion transport conditions. The coverage of polyelectrolyte monolayers was regulated by changing bulk concentration of PAH and the adsorption time. The electrokinetic characteristics of bare and PAH-covered mica were determined using the streaming potential measurements. The zeta potential of these PAH monolayers was highly positive, equal to 46 mV for ionic strength of 10(-2) M. The kinetics of tannin adsorption on these PAH supporting monolayers was evaluated by the in situ the streaming potential measurements. The zeta potential of PAH monolayers abruptly decreases with the adsorption of tannin molecules that was quantitatively interpreted in terms of the three-dimensional electrokinetic model. The acid-base characteristics of tannin monolayers were acquired via the streaming potential measurements for a broad range of pH. The obtained results indicate that it is possible to control adsorption of tannin on positively charged surfaces in order to designed new multilayer structures of desirable electrokinetic properties and stability. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.