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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TOPIC
PAGE NO.

Certificate
3

Types of solutions
4

Introduction
5

Classification
6-10

Micelle: formation & action

Properties of Colloids

Application of Colloids

Acknowledgements

Bibliography

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CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that Shrish Dutta of class XII-science of Modern
Delhi Public School, Faridabad has completed his project file under
my supervision. She has taken proper care and shown utmost
sincerity in the completion of this project. I thereby certify that
this project is up to my expectations and guidelines issued by
C.B.S.E .

Ritika Arora

(Department of Chemistry)

MDPS

Signature-_____________________

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Normally there are following types of solutions:-

TRUE SOLUTIONS:

Solutions are homogeneous systems in which the diameter

of the solute is < 10-9m.

These particles are not visible to the naked eye.

EX: Common salt in water

SUSPENSION:

A suspension is a heterogeneous system.

The particle size of the molecules in a suspension is >10 -6m.

These particles can be seen with the naked eye.

EX: Sand in water.

COLLOIDS:-

Colloids are mixtures whose particles are larger than the particles
of a solution, but smaller than the particles of a suspension.

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The suspended particles in a colloid are small enough to settle
down due to gravity.

A colloid is a heterogeneous solution in which the particle size

ranges from 10-9 to 10-6.

These particles are not visible to the naked eye, but can be seen
under a microscope.

EX: Milk, blood, honey and starch solution are all colloids.

In This project we shall further study about

colloidal solutions..

INTRODUCTION
The study of colloids was introduced in 1861 by Scottishscientist Thomas
Graham.
A colloid, in chemistry, is a mixture in which one substance of
microscopically dispersed insoluble particles is suspended
throughout another substance. A colloid is is a hetrogenous
system in which one substance is dispersed (dispersed phase ) as
very fine particles in another
substance called the dispersion
medium.
The dispersed-phase particles
have a diameter between
approximately 1 and
1000 nanometers.[2] Such particles
are normally easily visible in an
optical microscope, although at
the smaller size range (r<250 nm), an ultramicroscope or
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an electron microscope may be required. Mixtures with a
dispersed phase in this size range may be called colloidal
aerosols, colloidal emulsions, colloidal foams, colloidal
dispersions, or hydrosols. The dispersed-phase particles or
droplets are affected largely by the surface chemistry present in
the colloid.
Following are some colloids:-

(Butter) (Milk in water)

(Toothpaste)

CLASSIFICATION OF
COLLOIDS
Colloids can be classified in the following ways:-

I) On the basis of physical state of the dispersed

phase and the dispersion medium:

Dispersed Dispersion Name Examples

Phase Medium

Solid Liquid Sol Paints, cell

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 fluids

Solid Solid Solid sol Colored

glasses, gem
stones

Solid Gas Aero sols Smoke, dust

Liquid Solid Gel Cheese, butter

Liquid Liquid Emulsion Milk, Hair

Cream

Liquid Gas Liquid aero sol Fog, Mist,

Cloud

Gas Solid Solid foam Pumice stone,

rubber, foam

Gas Liquid Foam Froth, Soap

lather

II) On the basis of nature of interaction between

dispersed phase and dispersion medium:-

Lyophilic:-
These tem lyophilic means liquid-loving (i.e. solvent loving).
Certain substances have an affinity for certain liquids and readily
form colloidal dispersions with them. The substances which when
mixed with a suitable liquid (dispersion medium) readily form
colloidal solutions are called lyophilic colloids or intrinsic
colloids and the sols thus formed are called lyophilic sols.

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Lyophobic:-
The term lyophilic means liquid-hating (i.e. solvent-hating). The
substances which do not pass much affinity for the dispersion
medium and do not readily pass into the sol state when mixed
with the medium are called hydrophobic colloids or extrinsic
colloids.

Table of differentiation:

S.No. Property Lyophilic sols Lyophobic

sols

1. Ease of Lyophilic sols Lyophobic sols

preparation can be cannot be
prepared obtained
easily by simply by
simply shaking shaking the
the lyophilic lyophobic
colloids with colloids with
the dispersion the medium.
medium They can be
obtained only
by using
special
techniques.

2. Hydration They are They are not

heavily much
hydrated. hydrated.

3. Stability Due to They are less

hydration, stable and get
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 they are quite coagulated by
stable and are heating, by
not easily agitating or on
coagulated. addition of
small amount
of an
electrolyte.

4. Reversibility Reversible Irreversible

5. Visibility The dispersed The dispersed

particles are particles,
neither visible through not
nor detected visible can be
easily even detected
under ultra- easily under
microscope. ultra
microscope.

6. Viscosity The viscosity The viscosity

is much higher is almost the
than that of same as that
the dispersion of the
medium. dispersion
medium.

7. Surface The surface The surface

tension tension is tension is
usually lower nearly the
than that of same as that
the dispersion of the
medium dispersion
medium.

8. Charge on The dispersed The dispersed

particles particles have particles carry
little or no a definite
charge on charge which
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 them. is either
positive or
negative.

9. Migration of The dispersed Depending

particles in an particles may upon the
electric field migrate in nature of
either charge
direction or present, the
may not dispersed
migrate at all. particles
migrate in a
particular
direction.

III) Classification of Colloids Based on Type of Particles

of the Dispersed Phase

Multi-molecular colloids:

Multi-molecular colloids are formed when a large number of atoms

or smaller molecules of the dispersed substance aggregate
together to form a specie whose size lies in the
colloidal range. Eg: a gold sol consists of particles
of various sizes that are a cluster of several gold
atoms.In the aggregate are held together by (Gold
sol)Van der Waal's forces.

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Macromolecular colloids:

Certain substances, like starch, proteins and

cellulose, have molecules of big size, which lie in
the colloidal range. The solutions of these

substances in suitable solvents are called

macromolecular colloids. Synthetic
macromolecules, such as polyethylene, nylon and
polystyrene, also form colloids when dispersed in suitable
solvents. (Egg albumin)

Associated colloids:

There are some substances that behave as normal strong

electrolytes at low concentration, but behave as colloidal
solutions at a higher concentration.

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The colloidal behaviour is due to the formation of aggregates of
small particles. Such aggregated particles are called micelles, and
the colloid thus formed is called an aggregated or associated
colloid.

Micelles:formation and
Action
The formation of micelles takes place at kraft temperature and
above a particular concentration called Critical Micelle
Concentration.Surface active agents such as soaps and
detergents form micelles.
Micelles are generally formed by specific types of molecules that
have both lyophilic as well as lyophobic ends. Soaps consist of
sodium or potassium salts of higher fatty acids, and are
represented as RCOO -Na+ in soaps.

Mechanism of micelle formation:

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In sodium stearate, the long hydrocarbon part of stearate radical,
i.e. C 17 H 35, is the lyophobic end COO-is the lyophilic end.

Sodium stearate behaves as

a normal electrolyte and
ionises to give sodium and
stearate ions. These stearate
ions remain on the surface of
water and orient themselves
in such a way that the
lyophilic end of the COO- dips in water, while the lyophobic part,
the C17H35 part stays away from it.At the critical micelle
concentration, the polar COO- part is pulled into the bulk of the
solution.

Thus, a cluster is formed with the hydrocarbon chains pointing

towards the centre of the sphere, and the COO-part oriented
outwards on the surface of the sphere.

The aggregate thus formed has the dimensions of a colloidal

particle, and is known as an ionic micelle.

Detergents also undergo micelle formation in a similar manner.

The stearate ions of soap arrange themselves around an oil

droplet in such a way that the hydrophobic part of the stearate
ions is directed towards the oil and the hydrophilic part projects
outside.The hydrophilic part, being polar interacts with the water
molecules and the oil droplet is pulled away from the cloth into
the water to form an ionic micelle.

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The stearate ions of soap molecules help in making a stable
emulsion of oil with water, which is later washed away with
excess of water.

PROPERTIES OF COLLOIDS
I) Tyndall Effect
When an intense converging beam of light is
passed through a colloidal solution kept in
dark, the path of the beam gets illuminated with a
bluish light. This phenomenon is Tyndall
effect. It was first observed by Tyndall in
1869.
The Tyndall effect is due to the scattering of
light by colloidal particles. Since the
dimensions of the colloidal particles are comparable to the
wavelength of ultraviolet and visible radiations, they scatter
these and get illuminated.

II) Brownian Movement

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The continuous zigzag movement of the
colloidal particles in the dispersion medium
in a colloidal solution is called Brownian
movement. Colloidal particles present in a
colloidal solution exhibit a very important
property called Brownian movement. When
a colloidal solution is viewed under an ultra
microscope, the colloidal particles are seen continuously moving
in a zigzag path. The property was discovered by a botanist
Robert Brown in 1827, when he observed that pollen grains
suspended in water exhibit random zigzag motion.

III) Charge on colloidal particles

The stability of a colloidal solution is mainly due to the presence a

particular type of charge on all the colloidal present in it. Due to
the presence of similar and equal charges, the colloidal particles
repel one another and are thus unable to combine together to
form larger particles. This keeps them dispersed in the medium
and the colloidal remains stable. This is why sol particles do not
settle down even on standing for a long time. Based on the nature
of charge, the colloidal sols may be classified as positively
charged and negatively charged sols:-
Positively charged sols: Metallic hydroxide sols e.g., Fe(OH)3,
Al(OH)3, Cr(OH)3, etc., TiO2 sol, haemoglobin, sols of basic dyes
such as methylene blue etc.
Negatively charged sols: Metal sols e.g., Au, Ag, Cu, Pt etc.
sols, metal sulphide sols e.g., As2S3, CdS etc. sols; starch sol, sols
of acid dyes such as Congo red etc.

Electrophoresis

Due to the presence of a particular type of electrical charge, the

colloidal particles present in a colloidal dispersion move towards a
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particular electrode under the influence
of an electrical-field.
The direction of movement of the
colloidal particles is decided by the
nature of charge present on them. If
the colloidal particles carry positive
charge, they move towards cathode
when subjected to an electric field and vice versa. The
phenomenon is called electrophoresis.

Electro Osmosis

When electrophoresis
of dispersed particle in
a colloidal system is
prevented by some
suitable means, it is
observed that
dispersion medium
itself begins to move in an electric field. This phenomenon is
known as electro osmosis.

Colligative Property

Colligative properties depend upon the number of moles of solute

present in given mass of solvent. It does not depend on nature of
solute particles. Colloidal particles are not simple molecules, they
are aggregations of molecules. Hence, all colloidal dispersions
give low value of osmotic pressure, depression in freezing point
and elevation in boiling point.

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General Physical Properties of
Colloidal Solutions:-

Visibility of dispersed particles: Although colloidal

solutions are heterogeneous in nature, yet the dispersed
particles present in them are not visible to the naked eye and
they appear homogenous. This is because colloidal particles are
too small to be visible to the naked eye.

Filterability: Due to very small size, the colloidal particles

pass through an ordinary filter paper. However, they can be
retained by animal membranes, cellophane membrane and
ultrafilters.

Stability: Lyophilic sols in general and lyophobic sols in the

absence of substantial concentrations of electrolytes are quite
stable and the dispersed particles present in them do not settle
down even on keeping. However, on standing for a long time, a
few colloidal particles of comparatively larger size may get
sedimented slowly.

Colour: The colour of a colloidal solution depends upon the

size of colloidal particles present in it. Larger particles absorb
the light of longer wavelength and therefore transmit light of
shorter wavelength. For example, a silver so having particles of
size 150nm appears violet, whereas that having particles of size
60nm appears orange yellow.

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 APPLICATIONS OF COLLOIDS

Colloids have very important application in our

daily life starting from food products to the
medicines to industries like rubber. Some of the
applications of colloids are mentioned below.
Food and medicines: Colloids have great
application in food industries and food stuffs. Many of the food
materials which we eat are of colloidal nature. Milk and also
many milk products like chees, cream butter etc. are colloids.
Colloids also have applications in the form of medicines.
Colloidal medicines are competitively more effective as they are
easily absorbed by the body.
Some major antibiotics like penicillin and streptomycin are
injected in the body in the form of colloidal sol so that they
would be absorbed by the body easily.

Sewage disposal: As the sewage water contains impurities

like mud and dirt of colloidal size which are dispersed in the
water. Just like any other colloidal system, the colloidal particles
(impurities) of sewage are also charged particles. These
charged particles of impurities present in sewage may be
removed by electrophoresis.
For this purpose the sewage water is passed through a tunnel
which is fitted with metallic electrodes and is maintained at a
high potential difference.
The charged particles of impurity present in the sewage water

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migrate to the oppositely
charged electrodes which
results in their coagulation.

Smoke
precipitation: Smoke is
also a colloidal system which mainly consists of charged
particles of carbon depressed in air. Smoke is a big problem
for environment as it the major source for air pollution.
Removal of the dispersed colloidal particles from the air will
solve the problem. For this again the process of
electrophoresis is used.

This is done in Cottrell precipitator. Smoke is passed through

a chamber which contains a number of metal plates
attached to a metal wire connected to high potential source.
The electrically charged colloidal particles of carbon present
in air get discharged when come in contact with the
oppositely charged plates and fall down to the bottom. The
clean hot air leaves the precipitator from an exit near the
top.

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 Artificial rain: Clouds are also
colloidal system. In clouds, water
vapors are present in mixture with the
dust particles. The water molecules
present in cloud have electric charge
on them and are of colloidal size. So, if
the charged on the molecules is
neutralized somehow, they will start
raining. Sometimes it is done by
spraying some electrolytes over the
clouds and the rain resulted from this is
called artificial rain.

Formation of delta: Extensive

deposits of sand and clay formed
at the mouth of any river in sea at
the site where the river falls into
sea are called delta.
The formation of delta is a very
interesting natural phenomenon in
which negatively charged colloidal
particles of river are neutralized and
thus coagulated by the positively ions
of the salt present in sea.As it is very
expected, the river water contains
colloidal particles of sand and clay which are negatively
charge.

On the other hand the salty sea water contains a number of

positive ions.
When the water of river comes in contact with water of sea,
the negative charge present on colloidal clay particles
present in river water get neutralized by the positively
charged ions present in sea because of which they get
coagulated and deposit at the site.

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I sincerely offer my high respect and gratitude to our teacher in

Chemistry Mrs. Ritika Arora who along with the Central Board of
Secondary Education (CBSE) gave me this wonderful opportunity
to prepare and present this intriguing assignment which
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introduced me to whole new arrays of research and helped me
gain a lot of knowledge in the process.
Back to home, I would like to thank a set of people who helped
me a lot in finalising this project in the limited time frame. They
are my parents and friends.

Sincerely,

Shrish Dutta

BIBLIOGRAPHY
www.askiitians.com

www.wikipedia.org

www.quora.com

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