colloid chemistry Flashcards
Adsorption is spontaneous which means that adsorption is…….
Enthalpically driven and is very strong and irreversible.
S<0 G<0 therfore H«0
what is Г
adsorbed amount (mg) of polymer per m2 of substrate
why dont homopolymers adsorb strongly to surfaces?
monomer repeat unit prefers either solvent or surface not both
why do copolymers adsorb more strongly to surfaces
contain 2 monomers in which 1 is selected to promote adsorption and the other to remain solvated
What the principles of polymer adsorption?
- thicker polymer layers obtained if polymer is in a good solvent environment for loops.
- weakly adsorbed polymers can be desorbed at high dilution by using a good solvent.
- Г for an adsorbed polymer is between 0.1-0.3 mg m-2
- Ads promoted by less solvency, specific poly- surface int and increased surface area.
- ads confined to a single layer. get multi layer ads when H bonded multi molecular aggregates in sol
what methods are used to prevent aggregation of S/L colloids?
i) charge stabilisation
ii) Steric stabilisation (involves coating colloid particles with adsorbed polymer)
what are the two opposing forces in steric stabilisation?
Long ranger - wins when R is large eg VDW
Short range - wins when R is small eg steric repulsion
in steric stabilisation what happens if a poor solvent is used?
get poly - poly int rather than poly- solvent int
why in steric stabilisation are the dispersion flocculated and inter particle collisions are sticky?
Thermal energy of partcles is no longer sufficient in overcoming Δεflocc
advantages/dis of steric stabilisation
poor theoretical understanding at present
works well for aq and non aq systems
insensitive to electrolytes
Works well at v high colloid conc
advantages/dis of charge stabilisation
DVLO theory is well developed
works well in aq and aq mixed systems
v sensitive to electrolytes
therefore steric stabilisations more useful
what is the criteria for effective steric stabilisation?
strong exothermic adsorption thick adsorbed layer complete coverage of colloidal particle good solvency for adsrobed polymer layer (1 and 4 are mutually exclusive for homopolymers so these generally do not make good steric stabilisers)
what polymers make good steric stabilisers?
statistical, block or graft polymers
describe the basic principles of surfactant micellisation
- X is the CMC
- surfactant is in dynamic equilibrium with surfactant inside micelle
- Hydrophobic alkly chains escape water by hiding inside micelle core
- at conc above X get free surfactant molecule and micelle in co existence.
what is the effect on increasing surfactant conc on micellisation of surfactants?
lowers surface tension, after x surfactants that adsorb at air/water interface get micellisation.
how does alkyl chain length affect CMC
Increase R decreases CMC
How does temp affect CMC?
High temps cause CMC to increase. Micelle structure disrupted at higher temp
how does the addition of an electrolyte affect CMC?
decreases CMC. additional ions screen repulsive forces between surfactant head and groups
how does binary mixtures effect CMC of surfactant?
synergistic effect: Lower CMC for binary mixture than for either pure surfactant
how do organic molecules effect CMC?
Depends on effect on water structure: If it aids H bonding then decreases CMC
destorys H bonding then CMC increases
why are reactions fact in micelles?
Microcompartmentalisation - micelles act as mini reactors. organic reactions faster within hydrophobic interior.
what is CMT?
critical micelle temp - above this surfactant is soluble
how are DLS and SLS used to analyse micelles?
DLS measures micelle diameter
SLS measures micelle mass
how can the micelle aggregation number be calculated?
Micelle mass/ mass of surfactant
how does surfactant conc change micelle shape?
C < CMC - unimers
C = CMC spherical
C»_space; CMC cylindrical
what is the packing parameter?
Dictates micelle morphology P = V/ ao L V is volume of hydrophobic tail L is length of hydrophibic tail Ao is area of hydrophillic head
revise why interfacial tension is important
look at book
How is emulsion particle size achieved?
DLS DCP Optical microscopy Coulter counter - change in electrical resistance Laser diffraction
what is a colloid?
A Colloid is a dispersed phase within a continuous phase where the dimensions of the dispersed phase lie between 1 nm and 1000 nm
Can you get gas/gas colloids?
Cannot get gas/gas colloids due to rapid inter-diffusion
what is the equation for the specific surface area of a sphere?
As= 3/p.R p = density
true or false: colloids are barely affected by gravitational forces even on very long timescales?
false. over long periods of time gravitational forces acting on colloid can no longer be ignored. sedimentation can occur with denser dispersed phases.
Give the difference between lyophiliic and lyophobic solid liquid colloids.
- Lyophillic colloids have strong interactions with the continuous phase whereas lyophobic colloids do not have an interaction with the continous phase
2, lyophillic colloids are thermodynamically favourable
whereas lyophobic colloids are thermo and kinetically favourable. - in good solvents lyophillic will form random coils