Binary colloids
A binary colloid is a mixture of two different types of microscopic particles—usually differing in size, material, or charge—suspended in a fluid. These particles are small enough to stay dispersed but large enough to scatter light or interact with each other in interesting ways. Think of it like mixing two types of tiny beads in water—one big, one small. Depending on their properties, they can self-organize into more ordered structures, like crystals, just by floating around depending on how favorable the surrounding conditions (energy landscape) is or not. Some day-to-day real-life examples are:
- Milk + Coffee Creamers: These contain emulsified droplets (a type of colloid), and adding different stabilizers changes how the droplets interact—like binary colloids.
- Opals: Natural opals are formed by the self-assembly of tiny silica spheres, similar to how colloids can organize into photonic crystals.
- Cosmetics & Paints: Many contain a mix of pigments and stabilizers that act like colloids of different sizes, affecting texture, reflectivity, and stability.
- Fabric softener: Often a colloid-polymer mixture, where stability and performance depend on particle interactions—tuning those is like tuning binary colloids.
Contact us for the full report
info[at]g-space.com