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Michelle Gee

Michelle is on sabbatical from the School of Chemistry, Melbourne University, Australia for the Spring 2002 semester.

Wean Hall 6414
Ph. 412-268-2730
mlgee@unimelb.edu.au

During the Spring 2002 semester, Michelle is teaching the following special topics course:

06-712 Special Topics in Colloids and Dispersions
"Surface Forces: Their Origins, Measurement and Importance in Colloidal Systems."

Units: 12.0 Spring
Time: MW 1:30-2:50 (first meeting 1/23/02)
Location: TBD

The course examines a variety of colloidal systems (such as sols, emulsions and foams) and their stability and structure as determined by the interparticle interactions. The course then systematically covers the various known surface forces looking into theories of their origins , making reference to, and critiquing experimental data.

  1. measurements of surface forces: indirect measurements of colloidal structure, thin film stability, direct force measurements.
  2. the origins of van der Waals forces: propagation of static and dynamic fields in dielectric media, overview of various theoretical treatments of van der Waals forces, calculation of van der Waals forces from spectroscopic data 
  3. solvation forces due to liquid structure at an interface
  4. forces between hydrophobic surfaces: the hydrophobic effect and the hydrophobic interaction
  5. forces between charged interfaces: the Gouy-Chapman model of the electrical double layer, the Poisson-Boltzmann equation of electrical potential at an interface, overlapping double layers and double layer interactions
  6. DLVO theory: its basis and shortfalls: hydration forces, image forces, ion correlation forces
  7. polymeric systems: the behaviour and conformation of polymers in solution, the characteristics of polymer adsorption, control of surface forces by added polymer, steric forces, depletion, bridging attraction.