Classification of Colloids Based on Affinity to Carrier Fluid

3 CLASSIFICATION OF COLLOIDS BASED ON AFFINITY TO CARRIER FLUID 

4 for a summary of the descriptive names for two-phase colloidal systems.) 

Colloids are also often classified on the basis of the affinity of the surfaces of the particles to the continuous phase. This classification is also ambiguous in some respects, but deserves a brief mention. 

The terms used to distinguish colloidal particles on the basis of their affinity to the fluid in which they are dispersed are lyophilic and lyophobic. These terms mean, literally, solvent loving and solvent fearing, respectively. When water is the medium or solvent, the terms hydrophilic or hydrophobic are often used. This terminology is very useful when considering surface activity such as wettability of a surface however, when used to classify colloids, the distinction is not always clear-cut. We consider these two types of colloids separately in the following subsections. 

The classical use of the term lyophilic colloids refers to soluble macromolecular materials in which the individual particles (macromolecules such as synthetic polymer chains or proteins) 

---