This text offers a broad introduction to the interdisciplinary field of colloid and surface science. The emphasis is on practical applications of the basic principles — a number of industrial reports detail real-world solutions based on surface and colloid science. These examples include water treatment, soil management, coatings formulation, and surface optimization of inkjet media. The more mathematical derivations are separated from the main text, allowing the casual reader to pass over them without sacrificing a general understanding of the topic.

From the Preface: “...Science students are increasingly interested in the application of their studies to the real world and colloid and surface chemistry is an aera that offers many opportunities to apply learned understanding to everyday and industrial examples. There is a lack of resource materials with this focus and so we have produced the first edition of this book. The book is intended to take chemistry or physics students with no background in this area, to the level where they are able to understand many natural phenomena and industrial processes, and are able to consider potential areas of new research...”

Target Audience: Primarily aimed at students; this text will serve as a sound overview for professionals as well.

Table of Contents:

Introduction

Surface Tension and Wetting

Thermodynamics of Adsorption

Surfactants and Self-Assembly

Emulsions and Microemulsions

Charged Collooids

Van der Waals Forces and Colloid Stability

Bubble Coalescence, Foams and Thin Surfactant Films

Appendices

Index