Thermodynamically Stable Colloidal Solids: Interfacial Thermodynamics from the Particle Size Distribution.

ABSTRACT: True thermodynamic stability of a solid colloidal dispersion is generally unexpected, so much that thorough experimental validation of proposed stable systems remains incomplete. Such dispersions are under investigated and would be of interest due to their long-term stability and insensitivity to preparation pathway. We apply classical nucleation theory (CNT) to such colloidal systems, providing a relationship which links the size-dependent interfacial free energy density of the particles to their size distribution, and use this expression in the fitting of previously reported size distributions for putatively thermodynamically stable nanoparticles. Experimental data from a gold-thiol system exhibiting inverse coarsening or "digestive ripening" can be well-described in terms of a power-law

SUBMITTER: Nelson A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11177886 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature