Many metal elements form refractory oxides (e.g. Fe2O3) and hydroxides (Fe(OH)3). In addition, gold, silver, copper, lead, etc. combine with chloride (Cl-) to form insoluble chloride particles.These substances form in water when the metal ions are supersaturated. This depends on the pH, and the higher the pH, the easier the particles are formed. When the supersaturated state is maintained, these sparingly soluble substances aggregate to form ultrafine nuclei. If the nuclei are abundant, they aggregate into colloidal particles.
To keep fine particles dispersed in water (colloid), each particle surface must be charged with the same sign (positive or negative). Then the particles will repel each other due to electrostatic force and will not clump together. There are several mechanisms by which the surface of fine particles is charged, so I will introduce two (with reference to Colloid Science, Cosgrove, Tokyo Kagaku Doujin).
(a) Ionization of surface groups - the case of metal oxides and metal hydroxides -
Particles with functional groups become charged by ionizing the functional groups exposed on the surface. For example, OH on the surface of hydroxide particles attracts H+ in water at low pH and becomes positively charged. At high pH, it releases H+ and becomes negatively charged.
When iron chloride (FeCl3) or iron sulfate (FeSO4) is added to water and a small amount of alkaline substance (ammonia or sodium hydroxide) is added, iron oxyhydroxide (FeO(OH)) is produced. OH on the surface of oxide and hydroxide particles attracts H+ in water and becomes positively charged. The particles repel each other because the surfaces of the individual particles are positively charged. As a result, these fine particles do not clump together and remain colloidal.
(b) Dissociation of ionic solids
Ionic solids (gold, silver, copper, lead chlorides, iodides, etc.) attract common ions in water to the particle surface and become charged. For example, when a small amount of AgNO3 solution is added to NaCl solution, poorly soluble AgCl fine particles are produced. The ions present in this solution are
Na+,
Cl-,
NO3-. Among them, the common ion with AgCl is
Cl-, so the
Cl- ions are attracted to the AgCl particle surface, and the particle surface is negatively charged. This is called the primary charged layer. In addition, ions of the opposite sign (
Na+ in this case) are loosely attracted to the charge of the primary charged layer. This is called an electric double layer. Particles are charged with the same sign, so they repel each other and prevent agglomeration growth.
Of course, if there are no common ions in the water, there will be no charge, so aggregation will proceed and precipitation will occur.