Physical Chemistry of Disperse Systems and of Interfaces

The course presents the fundamental principles underlying physicochemical phenomena occurring at surfaces and interfaces. The behavior of different kinds of interfaces is explained via examples taken from the natural world, industrial applications and research laboratory. Moreover, students familiarize with the main experimental techniques used to characterize interfaces and colloids, both from a theoretical perspective and via practical examples and exercises.

At the end of the course, the student should be able to:
- Define the concepts of interface and colloid, choosing appropriate examples, and to outline the thermodynamic description of interfaces.
- Explain the concept of adsorption and formulate the Gibbs adsorption equation. The student should also be able to differentiate between physisorption and chemisorption and to describe adsorption enthalpy determinations. He/she should also be able to illustrate the adsorption isotherm models, giving examples.
- Define surface tension and list the techniques for its experimental determination. The student should also be able to apply the Laplace and Kelvin equations at phenomena such as capillarity.
- Describe the characteristics of solid surfaces, illustrate the concepts of wetting and adhesion, outlining their measurement techniques and giving examples of applications. The student should also be able to explain the concept of surface free energy of solids, listing its models and methods for its experimental determination.
- Formulate the BET theory and apply it to the determination of the surface area of solids. The student should also be able to list the experimental methods for the determination of porosity.
- Illustrate interfacial electrification phenomena, outline electrical double layer models and distinguish the behavior of metallic and reversible interfaces. The student should also be able to describe the concept of point of zero charge and the techniques for its experimental determination. He/she should also recall the experimental methods for the determination of colloidal particle size and should be able to apply the concepts of surface charge and particle dimension to predict the stability of a colloidal dispersion.