Colloids properties

Silica sols are often called colloidal silicas, although other amorphous forms also exhibit colloidal properties owing to high surface areas. Sols are stable dispersions of amorphous siUca particles in a Hquid, almost always water. Commercial products contain siUca particles having diameters of about 3—100 nm, specific surface areas of 50—270 m /g, and siUca contents of 15—50 wt %. These contain small (<1 wt%) amounts of stabilizers, most commonly sodium ions. The discrete particles are prevented from aggregating by mutually repulsive negative charges. 

It would be incomplete for any discussion of soap crystal phase properties to ignore the colloidal aspects of soap and its impact. At room temperature, the soap—water phase diagram suggests that the soap crystals should be surrounded by an isotropic Hquid phase. The colloidal properties are defined by the size, geometry, and interconnectiviness of the soap crystals. Correlations between the coUoid stmcture of the soap bar and the performance of the product are somewhat quaUtative, as there is tittle hard data presented in the literature. However, it might be anticipated that smaller crystals would lead to a softer product. Furthermore, these smaller crystals might also be expected to dissolve more readily, leading to more lather. Translucent and transparent products rely on the formation of extremely small crystals to impart optical clarity. 

Staudinger relentlessly championed the molecular, or primary valence, viewpoint in the years which followed. He supported his original contentions with the observation that hydrogenation of rubber, as well as its conversion to other derivatives, does not destroy its colloidal properties. In contrast to association colloids, high polymers (or macromolecules as he chose to call them ) exhibit colloidal properties in all solvents in which they dissolve. Polyoxymethylenes were ex-... 

Doose, S., Tsay, J. M., Pinaud, F. and Weiss, S. (2005) Comparison of photophysical and colloidal properties of biocompatible semiconductor nanocrystals using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy. Anal. Chem., 77, 2235-2242. 

The defined size ranges and limits are somewhat arbitrary since there are no specific boundaries between the categories. The transition of size ranges, either from molecular dispersions to colloids or from colloids to coarse dispersions, is very gradual. For example, an emulsion may exhibit colloidal properties, and yet the average droplet size may be larger than 1 pm. This is due to the fact that most disperse systems are heterogeneous with respect to their particle size [1-2]. 

Steric and Electrostatic Contributions to the Colloidal Properties of Nonaqueous Dispersions... 

FOWKES AND PUGH Colloid Properties of Nonaqueous Dispersions 333... 

Condensed-phase flame retardant mechanisms, 44 484—485 Condensed phosphates, 18 841-852 colloidal properties of, 48 851 complex ion formation in,... 

Schmid, G. Maihack, V. Lantermann, F., and Peschel, S., Ligand-stabilized metal clusters and colloids properties and applications, J. Chem. Soc. Dalton Trans., 589, 1996. 

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