Kinetics Gibbs-Thomson effect

The main conclusion of Paciejewska s thesis is the necessity to consider the specific kinetics of interfacial phenomena when evaluating the stability of colloidal suspensions. This applies not only to binary, but to all kinds of colloidal suspensions. A major factor is the dissolution of the dispersed phase(s)—in particular if the solubility and the intrinsic dissolution rate are relatively large. Its relevance is especially pronounced for a large total surface area, which depends on the particle concentration and the specific surface of the particles and which determines the amount of substance that can be dissolved in a given period of time. For many nanoparticle (x < 100 nm) systems (e.g. additives for paints and coatings), it will not be permissible to ignore the influence of dissolution on the interfacial properties and even on suspension stability—independent from the Gibbs-Thomson effect, which becomes relevant at particle sizes below 10 nm (cf. Sect. 3.1.4). 

As already mentioned in the previous section, any hollow nanoparticle should shrink. The general driving force of shrinkage is the same for a pure component shell (Model 1) and for an IMC shell (Models 2-4) - a decrease in the total surface energy (in other formulation - Gibbs-Thomson effect). Yet, the kinetics are different. 

---