Colloids and Colloidal Stability

Chapter 10 begins with a discussion of the importance of colloidal systems and a “working definition” of such systems. The chapter goes on to define various systems including aerosols, foams, sols, emulsions, gels, etc. The size range of components generally considered to fall into the colloidal range is defined along with several terms commonly encountered. The discussion covers arious methods of colloid formation before getting into specific aspects of colloidal characteristics. Colloidal stability is defined as both thermodynamic and practical matters, leading into the presentation of various stabilization mechanisms and their theoretical functional bases, including the interactions presented in Chapters 4 and 5. Also introduced are the concepts of enthalpic or stearic stabilization, polymer adsorption at interfaces, flocculation, and coagulation kinetics. The Deryagin–Landau–Verwey–Overbeek (DLVO) theory of colloidal stability is presented along with the concept of the complete energy curve to describe the stability of a system.