Introduction to colloidal particles

This chapter introduces the general principles of colloidal science, taking into account the overall scope of colloidal active materials. We briefly present approaches to particle production and characterization, provide extensive references to follow up on this introductory level of information and to find practical instructions for implementation in the laboratory. Without going into detail, we introduce the forces and principles necessary to delve deeper into the subject and study it in subsequent, more specific chapters. For a more in-depth treatment of the material, the interested reader is invited to turn to classic textbooks, including ref. 1 and 2, and a more recent textbook, ref. 3 for a more didactic treatment.