Colloids and Interfaces with Surfactants and Polymers: An Introduction [Paperback]

"…does a great job introducing a lot of complex concepts in a very concise, dense, and clearly written way." (Polymer News)

"...an excellent introduction...uses a that will appeal to many industrialists...certainly recommend the book..." (Chemistry & Industry, 19 April 2004)

"...accessible and readable book...a significant achievement...good value for money..." (Chemistry World, May 2004)

“…ideal for beginners to this specialised field who are in industry”. (Materials World, September 2004)

“…both an introduction to the field and a bridge to the more specialized texts… summarized in an accessible fashion…” (Polymer International, Vol.53, No.11 November 2004)

“I would definitely recommend this book to my students and to everyone who is interested in the fascinating science of colloids”. (Applied Organometallic Chemistry, March 2005)

"...ideal for beginners to this specialised field who are in industry."

"...both an introduction to the field and a bridge to the more specialized texts... summarized in an accessible fashion..."

This text is both an introduction to the field and a bridge to the more specialist texts that are available, and includes recent ideas that have been developed on the interactions between particles and the concentrated state. It covers the fundamentals of colloid and interface science, placing emphasis on concentrated systems and the ideas associated with them.

•  Takes a user–friendly, non–mathematical approach
• Includes the widely used techniques such as rheology in greater depth than other introductory texts
• Gives many practical examples of colloid and interface science
• Provides guidance on how to apply new ideas to a number of different systems

A great many of the things that we come in contact with everyday are colloids or were at some stage during their processing, so it is surprising that the discussion of multiphase systems and interfaces is restricted to a very small part if at all in most science courses. Once we become involved with a particular area of scientific work we become well acquainted with the current literature in that area and this can take up much of our time. It is not surprising then that when we are working in food science that we don’t see the similarity to problems that our colleagues are working with in areas such as estuarine sediments, paint technology, ceramics or the statistical mechanics of condensed phases. Nevertheless there are similar generic problems in each area.

The aim of this volume is to provide an introduction to the area and to provide a guide to tackling these generic problems as they pertain to our particular systems. The specialist texts can appear daunting and don’t always make it easy to start to apply the ideas in the practical systems with which many of us are working. In this text I have tried to define the more important generic problems and also indicate when straightforward approximations can be made. It is an introductory text so not everything is covered but the major areas are, in what should be a user-friendly manner and will provide a good jumping off point for the more specialist texts should that be required. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Colloids are all around us and we interact with them constantly whether through exciting new technological areas such as nanotechnology, complex fluids and soft matter technology, or even more mundane systems such as foods, coatings or cleaning agents. This text is both an introduction to the field and a bridge to the more specialist texts that are available, and includes recent ideas that have been developed on the interactions between particles and the concentrated state.

Many workers coming to the field of colloids for the first time find the current advances too daunting for them to attempt to apply the ideas to their systems. By the nature of the subject, some areas are necessarily complex, but when this occurs this text includes a calculation strategy so that the reader can judge the depth required for the application under study. Many commercial systems are complex mixtures but in most cases the basic rules apply and surprises only occur when there is a quite specific interaction present. Hence, using this text, the user will always have the fundamentals readily to hand. This book summarises such fundamentals in an accessible fashion and is relevant for undergraduate cour ses on chemistry, chemical engineering, physics, material science or pharmaceutics.