Page 16 - Introduction to Colloid and Surface Chemistry

The colloidal state 1

Ellipsoids
of
revolution

Rod Disc Random coil

Figure 1.1 Some model representations for non-spherical particles

Corpuscular particles which deviate from spherical shape can often
be treated theoretically as ellipsoids of revolution. Many proteins
approximate this shape. An ellipsoid of revolution is characterised by
its axial ratio, which is the ratio of the single half-axis a to the radius
of revolution b. The axial ratio is greater than unity for a prolate
(rugby-football-shaped) ellipsoid, and less than unity for an oblate
(discus-shaped) ellipsoid.
Iron(IH) oxide and clay suspensions are examples of systems
containing plate-like particles.
High-polymeric material usually exists in the form of long thread-
like straight or branched-chain molecules. As a result of inter-chain
attraction or cross-linking (arising from covalent bonding, hydrogen
bonding or van der Waals forces) and entanglement of the polymer
chains, these materials often exhibit considerable mechanical strength
and durability. This is not possible when the particles are corpuscular
or laminar.
In nature, thread-like polymeric material fulfils an essential
structural role. Plant life is built mainly from cellulose fibres. Animal
life is built from linear protein material such as collagen in skin, sinew
and bone, myosin in muscle and keratin in nails and hair. The coiled
polypeptide chains of the so-called globular proteins which circulate
in the body fluids are folded up to give corpuscular particles.
When particles aggregate together, many different shapes can be
formed. These do not necessarily correspond to the shape of the
primary particles.