STABILITY OF COLLOIDAL

DISPERSIONS
By
Dr. Musiba Baliruno Denis
M.PHARM-IND(UoN)
2nd Mar 2016
Stability in colloids
In a stable colloid system the dispersed particles are
electrically (commonly negatively) charged.
 Two adjacent charged particles repel each other
preventing collision and aggregation.
When the charges are neutralized the particles may
collide and bond to each other.
This bonding destabilizes the colloid system.
Stability in colloids
Instability in colloids can occur in two forms
 coagulation in case of solid particles and
 coalescence in case of gaseous or liquid dispersed phase.
Coagulation involves the destabilization of Colloids by neutralization
of the electric charge of the dispersed phase particles, leading to
aggregation.
Aggregation is the formation of groups of particles (aggregates)
bonded to each other by van der Waals or other intermolecular forces.
Coalescence is characterized by disappearance of the boundary
between the particles resulting in the reduction of the interfacial area
COAGULATION
The coagulation process may be subdivided in two
stages:
electric neutralization of the dispersed phase and
Aggregation of the destabilized particles.
COAGULATION
Electrical neutralization can be brought about by
 Addition of an electrolyte with oppositely charged
electrolyte ions to the colloid.
 Addition of another colloid, whose particles have a
charge opposite to the particles of the first colloid
Introduction of electrodes connected to a DC power
supply. The electric circuit provides the charges for
neutralizing the colloidal particles.
COAGULATION
Aggregation
Aggregation is determined by
the frequency of particle-particle collisions and
the collision energy, which is required for the bond formation.
There are two types of aggregation according to the force
driving the process:
Perikinetic aggregation - caused by Brownian motion of
the dispersed particles
Orthokinetic aggregation - caused by either convection of
the colloid or selective sedimentation of the dispersed
particles (heavier particles sediment faster).
COAGULATION
AGGREGATION
Two particles in close proximity experience van der
waals forces of attraction.
Without any counteracting force, the particles will
come together bonded by van der waals forces
destabilizing the colloidal system.
Colloidal stability is achieved due to repulsion forces
balancing the attraction forces.
Stabilization of colloids
Two mechanisms are employed
Electrostatic stabilization of colloids
Polymeric stabilization of colloids
Electrostatic stabilization of colloids

The van der Waals forces of attraction are

counterbalanced by the repulsive Coulomb forces
acting between the negatively charged colloidal
particles.
This utilizes the phenomenon of the electrical double
layer
It is important in the electrostatic stabilization of
colloids
Electric Double Layer
It is the layer surrounding a particle of the dispersed phase 
Includes the ions adsorbed on the particle surface and a film of the
countercharged dispersion medium.
It is electrically neutral.
An Electric Double Layer consists of three parts:
Surface charge - charged ions (commonly negative) adsorbed on the
particle surface. This usually gives a particle its surface charge in case of an
uncharged particle.
Stern layer - counter ions (charged opposite to the surface charge) attracted
to the particle surface and closely attached to it by the electrostatic force.
Diffuse layer - a film of the dispersion medium (solvent) adjacent to the
particle. Diffuse layer contains free ions with a higher concentration of the
counter ions. The ions of the diffuse layer are affected by the electrostatic
force of the charged particle
Electric double layer
DLVO theory
DLVO theory explains the interaction between two
approaching particles.
The theory states that the colloidal stability is
determined by the potential energy of the particles
(VT) which is a sum of the potential energy of the
attractive interaction due to van der Waals force
VA and potential energy of the repulsive electrostatic
interaction VR:
VT = VA + VR
DLVO THEORY
DLVO THEORY
It looks at the balance between two opposing forces
electrostatic repulsion and van der waals attraction .
Used to explain why some colloidal systems
agglomerates while others dont.
Electrostatic repulsion becomes significant when two
colloids approach each other and their double layers
begin to interfere.
Energy is required to overcome this repulsion.
DLVO THEORY
An electrostatic repulsion curve is used to indicate the energy that
must be overcome if the particles are to be forced together.
 It has a maximum value when the particles are almost touching
and decreases to zero outside the double layer
Van der waals attraction is as a result of forces between individual
molecules in each colloid.
The effect is additive that is one molecule in a colloid has a van
der waals attraction to each molecule in the second colloid
This is repeated for each molecule in the first colloid and the total
force is the sum of all these
An attractive energy curve is used to indicate the variation in van
der waals force with distance between the particles
DLVO THEORY
The DLVO theory explains the tendency of colloids to
agglomerate or remain discreet by combining the van
der waals attraction curve with the electrostatic
repulsion curve to form a net interaction energy curve
At each distance the smaller value is subtracted from
the greater value to get the net energy.
 The net energy is then plotted above if repulsive and
below if attractive
DLVO THEORY
If there’s repulsion, then, the point of maximum repulsive
energy is called the energy barrier.
The height of the barrier indicates how stable the system
is. In order to agglomerate two particles on a collision
course must have sufficient kinetic energy due to their
velocity and mass to jump over this barrier. If the barrier
is cleared then the net interaction is all attractive and as a
result particles agglomerate
This inner region is referred to as an energy trap since the
colloids can be considered to be trapped together by van
der waals forces
DLVO THEORY
In many cases we can alter the environment to either
increase or decrease the energy barrier depending on
the goals
Some methods used to achieve this are
Changing the ionic environment or ph , adding
surface active materials to directly affect the charge of
the colloid
In each case zeta potential measurement can indicate
the impact of the alteration
Polymeric stabilization of colloids

Involves addition of Polymeric substance to a dispersion medium to

prevent aggregation of colloidal particles.
 The polymeric molecules create a repulsive force counterbalancing
the attractive van der Waals force acting on a particle approaching
another particle.
There are two types of polymeric stabilization
Steric stabilization of colloids is achieved by polymer molecules
attached to the particle surface and forming a coating, which creates
a repulsive force and separates the particle from another particle.
Depletion stabilization of colloids involves unanchored (free)
polymeric molecules creating repulsive forces between the
approaching particles
Polymeric stabilization of colloids