Irreversible colloids

H. R. Kniyt, Colloid Science, Volume I, Irreversible Systems, Elsevier, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1952. 

The main disadvantage of the perfect sink model is that it can only be applied for irreversible deposition of particles the reversible adsorption of colloidal particles is outside the scope of this approach. Dahneke [95] has studied the resuspension of particles that are attached to surfaces. The escape of particles is a consequence of their random thermal (Brownian) motion. To this avail he used the one-dimensional Fokker-Planck equation... 

We have shown a new concept for selective chemical sensing based on composite core/shell polymer/silica colloidal crystal films. The vapor response selectivity is provided via the multivariate spectral analysis of the fundamental diffraction peak from the colloidal crystal film. Of course, as with any other analytical device, care should be taken not to irreversibly poison this sensor. For example, a prolonged exposure to high concentrations of nonpolar vapors will likely to irreversibly destroy the composite colloidal crystal film. Nevertheless, sensor materials based on the colloidal crystal films promise to have an improved long-term stability over the sensor materials based on organic colorimetric reagents incorporated into polymer films due to the elimination of photobleaching effects. In the experiments... 

Colloids are thermodynamically unstable conglomerates that form heterogeneous dispersions in aqueous systems. They tend to coagulate and precipitate, which means that the materials of which they are composed may be present both in the water column and in sediments. The coagulation and precipitation stages are generally considered irreversible, but forces in the environment can redisperse the particles. 

It is this action alone which enables a relatively small number of dyes, the so-called substantive cotton dyes, to be absorbed directly by the unmordanted vegetable fibre. The most important of these dyes are the bis-azo dyes, such as Congo-red and related compounds, which are derived from doubly diazotised benzidine. In aqueous solution they are present as sols and are colloidally adsorbed by the fibres as irreversible gels. 

Microbes are ubiquitous in the subsurface environment and as such may play an important role in groundwater solute behavior. Microbes in the subsurface can influence pollutants by solubility enhancement, precipitation, or transformation (biodegradation) of the pollutant species. Microbes in the groundwater can act as colloids or participate in the processes of colloid formation. Bacterial attachment to granular media can be reversible or irreversible and it has been suggested that extracellular enzymes are present in the system. Extracellular exudates (slimes) can be sloughed-off and act to transport sorbed materials [122]. The stimulation of bacterial growth in the subsurface maybe considered as in situ formation of colloids. 

The humic/organic matter coatings of different solid phases (i. e., SPm /SP0M), such as soils, sediments, suspended solids, colloids, and biocolloids/biosolids, interact with organic pollutants in aqueous systems in various ways. Adsorption is an important interaction mode. The reversibility and/or irreversibility of the adsorption processes is of major importance. The question whether the bound residues of pollutants are to be considered definitely inactivated has been the focus of extensive research. This question was posed as follows. Have the adsorbed pollutants become common components incorporated into the humic polymer coating of solid phases (i. e., being absorbed), or are they only momentarily inactivated in reversibly bound forms thus representing a possible source of pollution by a time-delayed release of toxic units ... 

Some metals are irreversibly adsorbed, probably via incorporation into the mineral phases, such as amorphous iron oxyhydroxides, as shown in Figure 11.6d. Some of these amorphous phases form by direct precipitation from seawater. As noted earlier, hydrothermal fluids are an important source of iron and manganese, both of which subsequently precipitate from seawater to form colloidal and particulate oxyhydroxides. Other metals tend to coprecipitate with the iron and manganese, creating a polymetallic oxyhydroxide. It is not clear the degree to which biological processes mediate the formation of such precipitates. Since the metals are incorporated into a mineral phase, this type of scavenging is better referred to as an absorption process. 

To measure the force-extension law of a small biomolecule, these authors employed a two-step strategy. First, the background repulsive force-distance profile, in the absence of biomolecules, Fbg(h), is measured, h being the interparticle spacing. Then, once the biocomplexes have been properly attached within each interval between colloids, the same measurement is repeated, allowing determination of the force-distance profile of this irreversible assembly The force / >(/t)... 

D. M. Carbeny, J. C. Reid, G. M. Wang, E. M. Sevick, D. J. Searles, and D. J. Evans, Fluctuations and irreversibility an experimental demonstration of a second-law-hke theorem using a colloidal particle held in an optical trap. Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 140601 (2004). 

Mechanisms that may lead to the quasi irreversible binding of radionuclides to colloids belong to the key uncertainties of the assessment of the colloid problem. The kinetics of the dissociation of colloid-bound radionuclides are not yet understood. Radionuclide incorporation into stable colloids may enhance the colloid-mediated radionuclide release considerably. It is clear that only the investigation of the interaction mechanisms by spectroscopic methods is able to unravel the relevance of such processes. In order to allow the description of colloid-facilitated radionuclide migration, it is furthermore required to improve our understanding of the colloid interaction... 

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