We study the charging behavior of polystyrene and polymethyl methacrylate particles with different functional surface groups in water and in decane containing either ionic (AOT) or nonionic surfactant (Span 85). Electrophoretic mobilities in the nonpolar media are measured as a function of surfactant concentration and the applied electric field strength by phase analysis light scattering (PALS); acid-base characteristics of the particles and the surfactant are investigated via contact angle measurement and interfacial tensiometry, and the residual water content of the non-aqueous dispersions is assessed by Karl Fischer titration. The results suggest a competition of several mechanisms for particle charging in nonpolar media. At high concentrations of the nonionic surfactant, particle charging becomes insensitive to the functional surface groups responsible for charging in aqueous dispersions, but consistent with a charge transfer between the polymer surface and the surfactant due to acid-base interactions, which can be rationalized in terms of measurable acid-base parameters. By contrast, particle charging in nonpolar solutions of the ionic surfactant (with significantly larger amounts of residual water) suggests a strong influence of surface headgroup ionization, and of dissociated surfactants adsorbed to the particle surface. (c) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.