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A ‘ is a substance microscopically dispersed evenly throughout another substance.[1]

A colloidal system consists of two separate phases: a 6 6 (or

) and a
(or 6 6 ). A colloidal system may be solid, liquid, or gaseous.

Many familiar substances are colloids, as shown in the chart below. As well as these naturally occurring
colloids, modern chemical process industries utilize high shear mixing technology to create novel colloids.

The dispersed-phase particles have a diameter of between approximately 5 and 200 nanometers.[2] Such
particles are normally invisible in an optical microscope, though their presence can be confirmed with the use of
an ultramicroscope or an electron microscope. Homogeneous mixtures with a dispersed phase in this size range
may be called

6

,

6

,

6
,

6
6 , or 6
. The
dispersed-phase particles or droplets are affected largely by the surface chemistry present in the colloid.

Some colloids are translucent because of the Tyndall effect, which is the scattering of light by particles in the
colloid. Other colloids may be opaque or have a slight color.

Colloidal systems (also called colloidal solutions or colloidal suspensions) are the subject of interface and
colloid science. This field of study was introduced in 1861 by Scottish scientist Thomas Graham.

CLASSIFICATION OF COLLOIDS

Because the size of the dispersed phase may be difficult to measure, and because colloids have the appearance
of solutions, colloids are sometimes identified and characterized by their physico-chemical and transport
properties. For example, if a colloid consists of a solid phase dispersed in a liquid, the solid particles will not
diffuse through a membrane, whereas with a true solution the dissolved ions or molecules will diffuse through a
membrane. Because of the size exclusion, the colloidal particles are unable to pass through the pores of an
ultrafiltration membrane with a size smaller than their own dimension. The smaller the size of the pore of the
ultrafiltration membrane, the lower the concentration of the dispersed colloidal particules remaining in the
ultrafiltred liquid. The exact value of the concentration of a truly dissolved species will thus depend on the
experimental conditions applied to separate it from the colloidal particles also dispersed in the liquid. This is,
a.o., particularly important for solubility studies of readily hydrolysed species such as Al, Eu, Am, Cm, ... or
organic matter complexing these species.

In some cases, a colloid can be considered as a homogeneous mixture. This is because the distinction between
"dissolved" and "particulate" matter can be sometimes a matter of approach, which affects whether or not it is
homogeneous or heterogeneous.
HYDROCOLLOIDS

A ^ ‘ is defined as a colloid system wherein the colloid particles are dispersed in water. A
hydrocolloid has colloid particles spread throughout water, and depending on the quantity of water available
that can take place in different states, e.g., gel or sol (liquid). Hydrocolloids can be either irreversible (single-
state) or reversible. For example, agar, a reversible hydrocolloid of seaweed extract, can exist in a gel and sol
state, and alternate between states with the addition or elimination of heat.

Many hydrocolloids are derived from natural sources. For example, agar-agar and carrageenan are extracted
from seaweed, gelatin is produced by hydrolysis of proteins of bovine and fish origins, and pectin is extracted
from citrus peel and apple pomace.

Gelatin desserts like jelly or Jell-O are made from gelatin powder, another effective hydrocolloid.
Hydrocolloids are employed in food mainly to influence texture or viscosity (e.g., a sauce).Hydrocolloid-based
medical dressings are used for skin and wound treatment.

Other main hydrocolloids are xanthan gum, gum arabic, guar gum, locust bean gum, cellulose derivatives as
carboxymethyl cellulose, alginate and starch

INTERACTION BETWEEN COLLOID PARTICLES

The following forces play an important role in the interaction of colloid particles:

1)EXCLUDED VOLUME REPULSION: This refers to the impossibility of any overlap between hard particles.

2)ELECTROSTATIC INTERACTION: Colloidal particles often carry an electrical charge and therefore attract
or repel each other. The charge of both the continuous and the dispersed phase, as well as the mobility of the
phases are factors affecting this interaction.

3)VAN DER WAALS FORCES: This is due to interaction between two dipoles that are either permanent or
induced. Even if the particles do not have a permanent dipole, fluctuations of the electron density gives rise to a
temporary dipole in a particle. This temporary dipole induces a dipole in particles nearby. The temporary dipole
and the induced dipoles are then attracted to each other. This is known as van der Waals force, and is always
present (unless the refractive indexes of the dispersed and continuous phases are matched), is short-range, and is
attractive.

4)ENTROPIC FORCES: According to the second law of thermodynamics, a system progresses to a state in
which entropy is maximized. This can result in effective forces even between hard spheres.

5)STERIC FORCES between polymer-covered surfaces or in solutions containing non-adsorbing polymer can
modulate interparticle forces, producing an additional steric repulsive force (which is predominantly entropic in
origin) or an attractive depletion force between them. Such an effect is specifically searched for with tailor-
made superplasticizers developed to increase the workability of concrete and to reduce its water content.

STABILIZATION OF A COLLOIDAL DISPERSION(PEPTIZATION)

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Unstable colloidal dispersions form flocs as the particles aggregate due to interparticle attractions. In this way
photonic glasses can be grown. This can be accomplished by a number of different methods:

1)Removal of the electrostatic barrier that prevents aggregation of the particles. This can be accomplished by
the addition of salt to a suspension or changing the pH of a suspension to effectively neutralize or "screen" the
surface charge of the particles in suspension. This removes the repulsive forces that keep colloidal particles
separate and allows for coagulation due to van der Waals forces.
2)Addition of a charged polymer flocculant. Polymer flocculants can bridge individual colloidal particles by
attractive electrostatic interactions. For example, negatively-charged colloidal silica or clay particles can be
flocculated by the addition of a positively-charged polymer.

3)Addition of non-adsorbed polymers called depletants that cause aggregation due to entropic effects.

4)Physical deformation of the particle (e.g., stretching) may increase the van der Waals forces more than
stabilization forces (such as electrostatic), resulting coagulation of colloids at certain orientations.

Unstable colloidal suspensions of low-volume fraction form clustered liquid suspensions, wherein individual
clusters of particles fall to the bottom of the suspension (or float to the top if the particles are less dense than the
suspending medium) once the clusters are of sufficient size for the Brownian forces that work to keep the
particles in suspension to be overcome by gravitational forces. However, colloidal suspensions of higher-
volume fraction form colloidal gels with viscoelastic properties. Viscoelastic colloidal gels, such as bentonite
and toothpaste, flow like liquids under shear, but maintain their shape when shear is removed. It is for this
reason that toothpaste can be squeezed from a toothpaste tube, but stays on the toothbrush after it is applied.

TECHNIQUE MONITORING COLLOIDAL STABILITY

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A colloidal crystal is a highly ordered array of particles that can be formed over a very long range (typically on
the order of a few millimeters to one centimeter) and that appear analogous to their atomic or molecular
counterparts. One of the finest natural examples of this ordering phenomenon can be found in precious opal, in
which brilliant regions of pure spectral color result from close-packed domains of amorphous colloidal spheres
of silicon dioxide (or silica, SiO2). These spherical particles precipitate in highly siliceous pools in Australia and
elsewhere, and form these highly ordered arrays after years of sedimentation and compression under hydrostatic
and gravitational forces. The periodic arrays of submicrometre spherical particles provide similar arrays of
interstitial voids, which act as a natural diffraction grating for visible light waves, particularly when the
interstitial spacing is of the same order of magnitude as the incident lightwave.

Thus, it has been known for many years that, due to repulsive Coulombic interactions, electrically charged
macromolecules in an aqueous environment can exhibit long-range crystal-like correlations with interparticle
separation distances, often being considerably greater than the individual particle diameter. In all of these cases
in nature, the same brilliant iridescence (or play of colors) can be attributed to the diffraction and constructive
interference of visible lightwaves that satisfy Bragg¶s law, in a matter analogous to the scattering of X-rays in
crystalline solids.

The large number of experiments exploring the physics and chemistry of these so-called "colloidal crystals" has
emerged as a result of the relatively simple methods that have evolved in the last 20 years for preparing
synthetic monodisperse colloids (both polymer and mineral) and, through various mechanisms, implementing
and preserving their long-range order formation.

COLLOIDS IN THE ENVIRONMENT

Colloidal particles can also serve as transport vector of diverse contaminants in the surface water (sea water,
lakes, rivers, fresh water bodies) and in underground water circulating in fissured rocks (limestone, sandstone,
granite, ...). Radionuclides and heavy metals easily sorb onto colloids suspended in water. Various types of
colloids are recognised: inorganic colloids (clay particles, silicates, iron oxy-hydroxides, ...), organic colloids
(humic and fulvic substances). When heavy metals or radionuclides form their own pure colloids, the term
"

6" is used to designate pure phases, e.g., Tc(OH)4, U(OH)4, Am(OH)3. Colloids have been
suspected for the long-range transport of plutonium on the Nevada Nuclear Test Site. They have been the
subject of detailed studies for many years. However, the mobility of inorganic colloids is very low in compacted
bentonites and in deep clay formations because of the process of ultrafiltration occurring in dense clay
membrane.The question is less clear for small organic colloids often mixed in porewater with truly dissolved
organic molecules.