An Introduction to Interfacial Engineering

This book aims to introduce the main concepts of colloid science and to demonstrate its use in technology. The contents of the book can be roughly divided into two parts.

The first part contains the basic knowledge required to deal with colloidal systems. Chapter 1 introduces some key aspects of colloidal systems such as osmotic pressure, Brownian motion and the Tyndall effect and discusses some applications. Chapter 2 presents the Five Laws of Interfacial Engineering that control colloidal behavior under various conditions. The chapter 3 deals with amphiphilic systems and their assemblies such as emulsions and microemulsions. Chapter 4 summarizes the main results of the vast amount of information available on colloidal stability and chapter 5 covers aspects of rheology relevant to colloidal systems. With these chapters, there is a bundle of worked exercises, taken from the author's own experience and from other textbooks, that is available upon request from the author.

The second part, consisting of the chapters 6 - 8, deal with technological applications such as emulsification, film formation and flotation. In these last chapters some new fundamental issues are discussed where necessary but the emphasis is on the application. These topics are selected such as to emphasize the role of colloid science and and sufficiently general to act as a template for other technological applications.