This text serves an introduction to the field of colloids, as well as providing a bridge to the more specialized literature. It presents fundamental principles in an accessible fashion, and includes recent ideas regarding the interactions between particles and the concentrated state.

From the Preface: “...This present text covers a little more ground than some of the older introductory volumes that are still available but I have attempted to help the reader in the more complicated regions by providing a strategy for any calculations. Some derivations are outside the scope of an introduction, but, where they are straightforward, they are included in order to help readers gain as much insight as possible. None of the mathematics is at a high level...”

Target Audience: Undergraduate students pursuing chemistry, chemical engineering, physics, materials science, and pharmaceutics, as well as general readers seeking an overview of the subject.

Table of Contents:

The Nature of Colloids

Macromolecules and Surfactants

Interactions Between Colloidal Particles

Forces of Repulsion

The Stability of Dispersions

The Wetting of Surfaces by Liquids

Emulsions and Microemulsions

Characterizatoin of Colloidal Particles

Concentrated Dispersions

Index