What Is the Importance of Colloid Chemistry in Industry?
Colloid chemistry is vitally important to many industrial processes such as the manufacture of paint, paper, ceramics, adhesives, pharmaceuticals, foods and composites, according to Columbia University. Colloids are heterogeneous mixtures in which particles do not degrade the substance by remaining in the solution.
Colloidal particles can be dispersed in solids, liquids and gases. One substance, made of very fine particles, is dispersed among another medium. The particles that scatter into the medium can be solids, liquids and gases.
Colloids in which the solid is the medium include gemstones, pearls, cheese, butter, jelly, jam, pumice and foam rubber. Gems are examples of a solid dispersed into another solid. Cheese features liquid particles dispersed among a solid medium, while foam rubber is a gas filtered through a solid.
Liquid media that disperse solid particles include paint and gum. Liquids that disperse other liquids are milk, hair cream and cod liver oil. Gas particles across a liquid are whipped cream and soap lather.
Smoke, dust, clouds, fog and insecticide sprays are examples of a gas dispersal medium in colloidal substances. Colloids dispersed in gases are also known as aerosol sprays. Colloids made of gases and other gases are impossible to make in chemistry because the two gases combine evenly to form a completely homogeneous mixture, according to XAmplified, a free online education resource.
