Lecture5 PDF
Lecture5 PDF
Module 1: Lecture 5
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Module 1: Lecture 5
Table of Contents
Section/Subsection
1.5.1 Hofmeister series
Page No.
3
1.5.3 Gelation
1.5.4 Imbibition
1.5.5 Syneresis
816
11
13
14
15
1.5.8 Surfactants
1618
17
18
Exercise
19
Suggested reading
21
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1.5.3 Gelation
The cooling of a not-too-dilute lyophilic sol (e.g., gelatin or agar-agar) results in
the formation of a gel. A gel can also be obtained by the addition of electrolytes
under suitable conditions to lyophobic sols which exhibit some lyophilic
character (e.g., silicic acid and ferric oxide). The gels do not differ fundamentally
in their structure and properties from gelatinous precipitates. The gelation process
is accompanied by a large increase in viscosity.
Two types of gels can be distinguished: elastic and rigid gels. Partial dehydration
of an elastic gel (e.g., gelatin) leads to the formation of an elastic solid. The
original sol can be generated readily by the addition of water (and subsequent
warming, if necessary). Rigid gels (e.g., silica gel) become glossy or powdery,
and lose their elasticity on drying. Furthermore, mere addition of water may not
regenerate the sol. The walls of the capillaries formed upon the dehydration of
elastic gels are supple, but they are stiff for the rigid gels. Dehydrated silica gel
has a honeycomb structure with fine capillaries, which renders it a valuable
adsorbing agent. The dehydration and rehydration of the partially dried gels is the
most important distinction between the elastic and nonelastic gels.
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1.5.4 Imbibition
A gel imbibes a considerable amount of liquid when placed in a suitable liquid.
The volume of the liquid imbibed can be several times the volume of the original
gel. Imbibition is thus accompanied by a large increase of volume. For this
reason, this phenomenon is often called swelling. This can produce a large
amount of pressure. For example, if dry gelatin is placed in a tight porous vessel
and kept in water, swelling can break the vessel! However, the net volume
decreases in the imbibition process.
Sulfate, tartrate, citrate and acetate inhibit the swelling of gelatin and similar gels,
and their inhibiting effect decreases in the sequence mentioned. On the other
hand, chloride, chlorate, nitrate, bromide, iodide and thiocyanate favor the
imbibition of water, and the effect of chloride is the least. For iodide solutions,
the gel often disperses at the room temperature and forms the sol spontaneously.
Otherwise, the swollen gel is warmed to form the sol.
The Hofmeister series gives the order of temperature to which the gel must be
heated in presence of the anions to convert it to sol.
Imbibition of liquid by porous media has important applications in the cleaning
and deposition. Fig. 1.5.1 illustrates the imbibition of different liquids on a
porous micropatterened surface.
1.5.5 Syneresis
Many gels exude small amounts of liquid on standing (e.g., concentrated silicic
acid gels and dilute gels of gelatin and agar-agar). This phenomenon was first
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The change in color reflects the onset of coagulation. Therefore, a low value of
the gold number indicates good protective ability of the lyophilic colloid. Gold
numbers of some lyophilic sols are presented in the Table 1.5.1.
Table 1.5.1 Gold numbers of some lyophilic sols
Sol
Gold number
Gelatin
0.0050.01
Hemoglobin
0.030.07
Albumin
0.10.2
Gum arabic
0.150.25
Dextrin
620
Potato starch
> 25
Historically, gold number has some very important applications, although many
of them have been replaced by more accurate modern analytical techniques. For
example, albumins have higher gold numbers than globulins. Consequently, the
changes occurring in blood plasma in tetanus, where the albumins are converted
into globulins, can easily be detected by determining the gold number.
The protective effect of lyophilic colloids has been attributed to a homogeneous
encircling of the suspended particle by the particles of the protective colloid,
forming a protective sheath. According to Zsigmondy, this theory is applicable to
coarse particles only, not to the fine colloids such as the red gold sols. Zsigmondy
observed that particles of gelatin did not form a sheath around the gold particles.
However, one particle of gelatin adsorbed several gold particles. He, therefore,
suggested that the stability was due to the mutual adsorption of the particles of
hydrophobic and hydrophilic colloids. The union of the particles of the two
colloids formed a complex which imparted the stability.
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(1.5.1)
known as viscosity. Gases and many liquids (e.g., water) obey Newtons law of
viscosity, and these fluids are known as Newtonian fluids.
The flow behavior of most colloidal dispersions, however, does not follow this
simple behavior. The deviations occur mainly due to two factors: (i) interparticle
hydrodynamic interactions, and (ii) colloidal forces (electrostatic or steric)
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between the particles. The hydrodynamic effects exist even for neutral particles
when the concentration is large. The electrical and steric interactions can be
important in dilute dispersions if the range of the forces is large enough.
For a Newtonian fluid, the slope of the s versus curve is constant. Therefore,
the viscosity does not vary with shear rate. However, for non-Newtonian fluids
such a plot can be non-linear, and the slope varies from point to point. Therefore,
the viscosity of such fluids depends upon the shear rate even at constant
temperature and pressure.
The non-Newtonian fluids can be divided into two categories: (i) fluids whose
s behavior does not depend on the history of the fluid, and a given sample
of the material shows the same behavior no matter how long the shear stress has
been applied. Polymer solutions and paper pulp in water are examples of
pseudoplastic fluid. Dispersions of starch and sand are examples of dilatant fluid.
Examples of Bingham plastic fluid are clay dispersions, drilling mud and
toothpaste.
On the other hand, the s curves for the non-Newtonian fluids belonging to
the second category depend upon how long the shear has been applied. These
fluids can be divided into two categories, viz. thixotropic and rheopectic. The
thixotropic fluids show a decrease in viscosity with time under a constant applied
shear stress. The classic example of thixotropic behavior is displayed by the
flocculated sols of iron (III) oxide, alumina and bentonite clay gels, which can be
liquefied on shaking and solidified on standing. Many paints show thixotropic
behavior. In these colloid systems, there is a time-dependent aligning to match
the induced flow. The behavior of rheopectic fluids is opposite: the apparent
viscosity increases with time by the application of shear. Certain clay suspensions
and gypsum pastes, which thicken or solidify while shaken but sets slowly on
standing, are examples of rheopectic fluid.
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The relation between shear stress and shear rate for many non-Newtonian liquids
can be expressed by the power-law model.
s k p
(1.5.2)
s ,
k p
(1.5.3)
s s 0 B
(1.5.4)
If the dispersion is such that the behavior is non-linear once the flow starts,
the HershelBulkley model can be used.
s s 0 H
(1.5.5)
Example 1.5.1: The data on the variation of viscosity with shear rate for a mixture of an
anionic surfactant and a nonionic surfactant are given in the following table.
s 1
Pa s
s 1
Pa s
0.11
680.2
6.62
13.6
0.18
482.8
10.80
9.1
0.41
184.7
16.80
6.0
0.67
114.8
27.30
3.7
1.04
76.3
42.40
2.0
1.61
46.8
65.75
1.2
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2.49
31.1
4.06
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0.8
Determine the parameters of the Ostwaldde Waele model from these data.
Solution: From Eq. (1.5.3) we have,
1
k p
ln ln k p 1 ln
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velocity is low, (iii) no slippage of the liquid at the surface of the spheres, and (iii)
the spheres are large enough compared to the liquid molecules so that the liquid
can be regarded as continuum.
d
1 2.5
(1.5.6)
where is the viscosity of the pure liquid, d is the viscosity of the dispersion
and is the volume fraction of the spheres. Equation (1.5.6) has been found to
agree well with many experimental results reported in the literature.
Deviation from Einsteins equation can result from factors such as electroviscous
effect, swelling, flocculation, and adsorption of water on the surface of the
particles.
For dispersions with higher volume fractions of the particles, Einsteins equation
can be extended as,
d
1 2.5 k1 2 k2 3
(1.5.7)
Equation (1.5.7) gives a better fit to the data for dispersions which are not very
dilute. Several attempts have been made to extend Einsteins equation for
concentrated dispersions.
Equation (1.5.6) can be written in terms of the molar volume of the colloid as,
sp
d
1 2.5vm c
(1.5.8)
diameter in water varies with the volume fraction of the spheres as given below.
0.01
0.02
0.03
0.04
0.06
0.08
0.10
sp
0.02
0.04
0.07
0.08
0.14
0.19
0.24
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Verify whether these data obey the Einsteins equation of viscosity, or not.
Solution: The given data are plotted as shown in Fig. 1.5.5.
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Km M v
(1.5.9)
1 d
c 0 c
Lim
(1.5.10)
n M 1 a
i i
Mv
ni M i
1a
(1.5.11)
In interacting dispersions, it is important to consider the time over which the flow
behavior is observed relative to the time scales over which the shear force alters
the local structure of the dispersion. Deborah number is the ratio of the relaxation
time of the material tr and the observation time to .
t
De r
to
(1.5.12)
The difference between solids and liquids is defined by the magnitude of De. If
the time of observation is very large, or, conversely, if the time of relaxation is
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very small, the material is seen to be flowing. On the other hand, if the time of
relaxation of the material is larger than the time of observation, the material, for
all practical purposes, can be considered a solid.
The name of this number was coined by Markus Reiner in 1964 from a biblical
quote. Prophetess Deborah sang after the victory over the Philistines, The
mountains flowed before the Lord. It symbolizes the fact that the mountains
flow, as everything flows, and they flowed before the Lord (not before man) for
the simple reason that man in his short lifetime cannot see them flowing, but the
time of observation of the Lord is infinite.
1
ts
D
(1.5.13)
This ratio signifies the relative importance of shear and diffusion. If the Peclet
number is small, the Brownian motion dominates and the behavior of the particles
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1.5.8 Surfactants
A large number of phenomena at gasliquid, liquidliquid and liquidsolid
interfaces is controlled by a special class of organic compounds known as
surfactants or surface-active agents. These compounds have the unique property
that they tend to adsorb at the interface.
A surfactant is added in rather small quantities to the system. Nonetheless, it
alters the interfacial free energy significantly.
When the surfactant molecules adsorb at the interface, a significant reduction in
the tension results in most cases. Inorganic electrolytes can strongly influence the
adsorption of certain surfactants. Various intermolecular and surface forces are
responsible for these effects.
The traditional use of surfactants has been in household products, foods, coating
processes, petroleum industries, synthesis of microporous materials, and in
chemical reactions such as emulsion polymerization. At present, novel techniques
are being used to design new surfactants with specific chemical, biological,
electrochemical and photochemical properties.
Theoretical understanding of the surface activity has also progressed significantly
in the past decade, with high-speed computer simulations. The focus is on the
properties of multi-surfactant systems, behavior is electrolyte solutions, and in
concentrated surfactant solutions.
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solubility decreases. When the number of carbon atoms reaches 20, the soap is
almost insoluble in water.
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Exercise
Exercise 1.5.1: The shear stress versus shear rate data for a dispersion of colloidal silica
Aerosil R805 (mean diameter = 32 nm) in polypropylene triol are given below at 298 K.
s 1
s Pa
s 1
s Pa
s 1
s Pa
1104
9.4
3 102
16.8
10
65.5
3 104
10.6
1101
19.8
30
107.5
1103
11.6
3 101
24.3
100
216.9
3 103
12.6
31.1
1102
14.8
41.6
(dm3/kg)
(kg/kmol)
(dm3/kg)
(kg/kmol)
77
123
846
1490
89
145
1270
2450
273
354
1550
3030
360
550
2510
3100
400
650
2640
3630
640
1060
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0.042
0.053
0.070
0.084
0.105
0.137
0.168
1.11
1.14
1.22
1.28
1.36
1.59
1.77
If d can be correlated with by equation (1.5.7), use the polynomial up to the term
containing 3 , and determine the parameters k1 and k2 . Discuss the importance of
swelling of the particles.
Exercise 1.5.3: Answer the following questions clearly.
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Suggested reading
Textbooks
D. J. Shaw, Introduction to Colloid and Surface Chemistry, Butterworth-
Chapters 2 & 3.
S. Glasstone, Textbook of Physical Chemistry, Macmillan Publishers, Delhi,
Chapter 1.
G. J. M. Koper, An Introduction to Interfacial Engineering, VSSD, Delft, 2009,
Chapter 5.
J. C. Berg, An Introduction to Interfaces and Colloids: The Bridge to
Nanoscience, World Scientific, Singapore, 2010, Chapter 3.
M. J. Rosen, Surfactants and Interfacial Phenomena, John Wiley, New Jersey,
2004, Chapter 1.
M. R. Porter, Handbook of Surfactants, Chapman and Hall, London, 1994,
Chapter 4.
Journal articles
L. Courbin, E. Denieul, E. Dressaire, M. Roper, A. Ajdari, and H. A. Stone,
Nature, 6, 661 (2007).
M. Reiner, Phys. Today, 17, 62 (1964).
N. L. Abbott, AIChE J., 47, 2634 (2001).
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