Properties and Uses of Colloids: A Review

Colloid science is the science of both large molecules and finely subdivided multiphase systems. It is the system of more than one phase that colloid and surface science meet. Colloid science is interdisciplinary in many respects; its field of interest overlaps physics, biology, materials science, and several other disciplines. It is the particle dimension – not the chemical composition (organic or inorganic), sources of the sample (e.g., biological or mineralogical), or physical state (e.g., one or two phases). The colloidal solutions or colloidal dispersions are intermediate between true solutions and suspensions. In other words, the diameter of the dispersed particles in a colloidal dispersion is more than that of the solute particles in a true solution and smaller than that of a suspension. The knowledge of colloid chemistry is required in various aspects of chemistry. It is a field that has offered more and still has much more to offer; therefore chemists should be studious to extract more uses from this field as it still has more to offer. This article is aimed at reviewing the properties as well as some of the uses of colloids.