It has been shown that the coagulation values of counterions for SiC and TiC suspensions with particle radius from 0.5 to 5 mum obey a z(2.5-3.5) law and there is an insufficient change in the critical concentration of 1-1 electrolytes (CCE) when the surface potential of particles increases more than two times. Also, the CCE values hardly depend on the position of counterions in the lyotropic sequence. This is explained by aggregation of SiC and TiC particles at a secondary minimum, which is proved by calculations of the potential curves of interparticle interactions using the DLVO theory. The adsorption of poly(ethylene oxide) on the surfaces studied does not cause-in contradiction to dispersions with smaller particles-an unlimited growth in the stability of suspensions. This is due to the aggregation of large particles with adsorbed PEO, as in polymer-free dispersions, under barrierless conditions in which the coordinates of the secondary minimum are determined by superposition of molecular attractive forces and steric repulsive forces of adsorbed polymeric chains, without a contribution from the electric repulsion term. PEO-anionic surfactant complexes possess higher stabilizing capacity compared to the individual components of the mixture. Our results show that the adsorbed polymer layers may hinder the aggregation both in the primary and in the secondary minimum for not very large particles only, the critical size of which depends on the dispersed phase nature and the molecular mass of the polymer. (C) 2004 Published by Elsevier Inc.