Page 15 - Introduction to Colloid and Surface Chemistry

6 The colloidal state

traditionally describes soluble macromolecular material; however,
lyophobic regions are often present. For example, proteins are partly
hydrophobia (hydrocarbon regions) and partly hydrophilic (peptide
linkages, and amino and carboxyl groups).

Structural characteristics

Experimental methods

The experimental procedures for determining particle size and shape
can roughly be categorised, as follows:

1. Observation of the movement of particles in response to an
applied force (see Chapter 2).
2. Direct observation of particle images (microscopy and electron
microscopy) (see Chapter 3).
3. Observation of the response of particles to electromagnetic
radiation (see Chapter 3).
4. Measurements which relate to the total surface area of the
particles (gas adsorption and adsorption from solution) (see
Chapters 5 and 6).

Particle shape

Particle asymmetry is a factor of considerable importance in
determining the overall properties (especially those of a mechanical
nature) of colloidal systems. Roughly speaking, colloidal particles
can be classified according to shape as corpuscular, laminar or linear
(see, for example, the electron micrographs in Figure 3,2). The exact
shape may be complex but, to a first approximation, the particles can
often be treated theoretically in terms of models which have
relatively simple shapes (Figure 1.1).
The easiest model to treat theoretically is the sphere, and many
colloidal systems do, in fact, contain spherical or nearly spherical
particles. Emulsions, latexes, liquid aerosols, etc., contain spherical
particles. Certain protein molecules are approximately spherical. The
crystallite particles in dispersions such as gold and silver iodide sols
are sufficiently symmetrical to behave like spheres.