Steric and charge-stabilized colloids

Temperature Sensitivity. Samples of Au-acetone colloid were subjected to boiling and freezing. Upon returning to room temperature the colloids remained stable and no flocculation had occurred. These results indicate that steric stabilization33,43) (solvation) is a very important mechanism. Charge-stabilized colloids generally flocculate when subjected to such extremes of temperature.(56)... 

Latex dispersions have attracted a great deal of interest as model colloid systems in addition to their industrial relevance in paints and adhesives. A latex dispersion is a colloidal sol formed by polymeric particles. They are easy to prepare by emulsion polymerization, and the result is a nearly monodisperse suspension of colloidal spheres. These particles usually comprise poly(methyl methacrylate) or poly(styrene) (Table 2.1). They can be modified in a controlled manner to produce charge-stabilized colloids or by grafting polymer chains on to the particles to create a sterically stabilized dispersion. Charge-stabiHzed latex particles obviously interact through Coulombic forces. However, sterically stabilized systems can effectively behave as hard spheres (Section 1.2). Despite its simpHcity, the hard sphere model is found to work surprisingly well for sterically stabilized latexes. 

The stabilization mechanisms of colloidal materials have been described in Derjaguin-Landau-Verway-Overbeek (DLVO) theory [8, 9]. Colloids stabilization is usually discussed in terms of two main categories, namely charge stabilization and steric stabilization. 

From a technical standpoint, it is also important to note that colloids display a wide range of rheological behavior. Charged dispersions (even at very low volume fractions) and sterically stabilized colloids show elastic behavior like solids. When the interparticle interactions are not important, they behave like ordinary liquids (i.e., they flow easily when subjected to even small shear forces) this is known as viscous behavior. Very often, the behavior falls somewhere between these two extremes the dispersion is then said to be viscoelastic. Therefore, it becomes important to understand how the interaction forces and fluid mechanics of the dispersions affect the flow behavior of dispersions. 

With polymers that have ionizable groups, adsorption of a polymer will alter the charge of the surface altering the electrostatic interaction energy and also provide steric protection for the colloid, because the ionized groups will give better than theta conditions for the poisoner in an aqueous solution. This type of polymer stabilization is called electrosteric stabilization because both the electrostatic and the steric play a role in stabilization. The equations for this total interaction are simply the sum of electrostatic and steric terms as well as the van der Waals attraction. 

The boehmite system (y-AlOOH), originally studied by Zocher and Torok [63] and Bugosh [64] was further developed by Lekkerkerker and coworkers [65]. They extended the hydrothermal preparation pioneered by Bugosh [64] by starting from an aqueous aluminum alkoxide mixture acidified with hydrochloric acid [65a]. They studied the phase behavior of both charge stabilized aqueous dispersions of colloidal boehmite rods [65b,c] as well as sterically stabilized colloidal boehmite rods in an organic solvent (cyclohexane) [65d-f]. 

In the above descriptions we concentrated on situations where a polar background solvent was implicitly assumed. In apolar solvents double layer repulsion is diflhcult to achieve because dissociation, leading to charged surface groups, is less likely to occur and it becomes essential to stabilize colloids with polymers as to prevent instabilities. In the first decades after the establishment of the DLVO theory most papers on forces between colloidal particles focused on Van der Waals and double layer interactions. Forces of other origin such as polymeric steric stabilization [17], depletion [40] or effects of a critical solvent mixture [41] gained interest at a later stage. 

Only using excess VBC were stable precursor and polyampholyte latexes produced [A37.5N/12.5S, theoretical 3 1 (NVSO3 ) charged latex. Table I], but the quatemized latex was polydisperse with psuticle diameters of 60-210 nm. Use of methyl m,p-vinylbenzyl poly(ethylene oxide) (MVBPEO, 8, Figure 3) for steric stabilization of the terpolymers of styrene, VBC and SSC gave colloidally stable latexes (Table II). 

The process of adsorption of polyelectrolytes on solid surfaces has been intensively studied because of its importance in technology, including steric stabilization of colloid particles [3,4]. This process has attracted increasing attention because of the recently developed, sophisticated use of polyelectrolyte adsorption alternate layer-by-layer adsorption [7] and stabilization of surfactant monolayers at the air-water interface [26], Surface forces measurement has been performed to study the adsorption process of a negatively charged polymer, poly(styrene sulfonate) (PSS), on a cationic monolayer of fluorocarbon ammonium amphiphilic 1 (Fig. 7) [27],... 

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