Pharmaceutics 1

COLLOIDAL DISPERSIONS
Gels & Magmas

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• What is a Colloidal Dispersion?
• Colloidal system or colloidal dispersion is a
dispersion system which is made up of
Dispersed phase and Dispersion medium.
• In colloidal dispersion one substance is
dispersed as very fine particles in another
substance called dispersion medium.
• In case of dust, solid particles are dispersed in
air as dispersion medium.
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 Types of Colloidal Dispersions

• Dispersed phase and dispersion medium can be solid, liquid or gas.

Depending upon the state of dispersed phase and dispersion
medium, eight different types of colloidal dispersions can exist.
• Eight Different Types of Colloidal Dispersions are:

1. Emulsions
2. Sol (Colloidal suspension)
3. Solid sol (Solid suspension)
4. Gels & Magmas
5 and 6. Solid and liquid Aerosolis( a colloid of fine solid particles or
liquid droplets in air or another gas)
7 and 8. Foam and solid foam ( is formed by trapping pockets of gas
in a liquid or solid)

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 Colloidal dispersions of magmas and
gels.
• A substance is said to be colloidal when its
particles fall between (1 nm - 0.5 μm).
• Colloidal particles are usually larger than
atoms, ions, or molecules and, generally,
consist of aggregates of many molecules,
although in certain proteins and organic
polymers, single large molecules may be of
colloidal dimension and form colloidal
dispersions.

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 difference between colloidal dispersions and true
solutions

1. Colloidal dispersions have larger particle size

of the dispersed phase than that of true
solutions .

2. The optical properties: True solutions do not

scatter light and, therefore, appear clear, but
colloidal dispersions contain opaque particles
that do scatter light and thus appear turbid.

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 Types of colloids according to the degree of attraction
between the dispersed phase and the dispersion medium
• Lyophilic colloids:
 the dispersed phase interacts appreciably with the
dispersion medium e.g. starch is lyophilic in water
 lyophilic colloidal systems are easier to prepare and have
greater stability
 large organic molecules capable of being solvated or
associated with the molecules of the dispersing phase.
 These substances disperse readily upon addition to the
dispersion medium to form colloidal dispersions.
 As more molecules of the substance are added to the sol,
the viscosity characteristically increases, and when the
concentration of molecules is sufficiently high, the liquid sol
may become a semisolid or solid dispersion, termed a gel.

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• Lyophobic colloids:
 the degree of attraction is small e.g. Starch is lyophobic in alcohol
 generally composed of inorganic particles.
 When these are added to the dispersing phase, there is little
interaction between the two phases.
 lyophobic materials do not spontaneously disperse.
 Their addition to the dispersion medium does not greatly affect the
viscosity of the vehicle.

• amphiphilic or association colloid: is formed by grouping or

association of molecules that exhibit both lyophilic and lyophobic
properties.

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 Gels and magmas
• Gels and magmas are considered colloidal
dispersions, because they contain particles of
colloidal dimension.
• Gels are defined as semisolid systems consisting
of dispersions made up of either small inorganic
particles or large organic molecules enclosing
and interpenetrated by a liquid.
• Gels are also defined as semirigid systems in
which the movement of the dispersing medium
is restricted by an interlacing three-dimensional
network of particles or solvated macromolecules
of the dispersed phase.
• A high degree of physical or chemical cross-
linking may be involved.
• .
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• Some gel systems are as clear as water, and others are
turbid because the ingredients may not be completely
molecularly dispersed (soluble or insoluble), or they may
form aggregates, which disperse light.
• The concentration of the gelling agents is mostly less than
10%, usually in 0.5% to 2.0% range, with some exceptions.
• Gels in which the macromolecules are distributed so that
no apparent boundaries exist between them and the liquid
are called single-phase gels.
• When the gel mass consists of floccules of small, distinct
particles, the gel is classified as a two phase system and
frequently called a magma or a milk.

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10 Alaa Abu Hammad & Manal Ayyash 2015
 Terminology related to gels
• A number of terms are commonly used in
discussing some of the characteristics of gels,
including :
• Imbibition is the taking up of a certain amount
of liquid by gel without a measurable increase
in volume.
• Swelling is the taking up of a liquid by a gel
with an increase in volume.
• Only liquids that solvate a gel can cause
swelling..
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• Syneresis occurs when the interaction between particles of
the dispersed phase becomes so great that on standing, the
dispersing medium is squeezed out in droplets and the gel
shrinks. Syneresis is a form of instability in aqueous and
nonaqueous gels.

• Thixotropy is a reversible gel–sol formation with no

change in volume or temperature.

• Xerogel is formed when the liquid is removed from a gel

and only the framework remains.

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 classification and types of gels

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 classification and types of gels
• The Table lists two classification schemes for gels:
1. The first classification scheme divides gels into
inorganic and organic.
Most inorganic hydrogels are two-phase systems,
such as aluminum hydroxide gel and bentonite
magma.
Bentonite has also been used as an ointment base
in about 10% to 25% concentrations.
Most organic gels are single-phase systems and
may include such gelling agents as carbomer and
tragacanth.

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2. The second classification scheme divides •
gels into hydrogels and organogels with some
additional subcategories

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• Hydrogels include ingredients that are dispersible as colloidals or
soluble in water; they include organic hydrogels, natural and
synthetic gums, and inorganic hydrogels.
• Examples include hydrophilic colloids such as silica, bentonite,
tragacanth, pectin, sodium alginate, methylcellulose, sodium
CMC, and alumina, which in high concentration form semisolid
gels.
• Sodium alginate has been used to produce gels that can be
employed as ointment bases.
• In concentrations greater than 2.5% and in the presence of soluble
calcium salts, a firm gel, stable between pH 5 and 10, is formed.
• Methylcellulose, hydroxy ethylcellulose, and sodium CMC are
among the commercial cellulose products used in ointments. They
are available in various viscosity types, usually high, medium, and
low.

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• Organogels include the hydrocarbons, animal and vegetable fats,
soap base greases, and the hydrophilic organogels.

• Included in the hydrocarbon type is Jelene, or Plastibase, a

combination of mineral oils and heavy hydrocarbon waxes with a
molecular weight of about 1300.

• Petrolatum is a semisolid gel consisting of a liquid component

together with a protosubstance and a crystalline waxy fraction.

• The crystalline fraction provides rigidity to the structure, while the

protosubstance, or gel former, stabilizes the system and thickens
the gel.

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• The hydrophilic organogels, or polar organogels, include the polyethylene
glycols of high molecular weight, the carbowaxes. They are soluble to
about 75% in water and are completely washable. The gels look and feel
like petrolatum. They are nonionic and stable.

• Jellies are a class of gels in which the structural coherent matrix contains a
high proportion of liquid, usually water.

• They usually are formed by adding a thickening agent such as tragacanth

or carboxymethyl cellulose to an aqueous solution of a drug substance.
The resultant product is usually clear and uniformly semisolid. Jellies are
subject to bacterial contamination and growth, so most are preserved
with antimicrobials. Jellies should be stored with tight closure, because
water may evaporate, drying out the product.

• Some substances, such as acacia, are termed natural colloids because they
are self-dispersing in a dispersing medium. Other materials that require
special treatment for prompt dispersion are called artifi cial colloids. The
special treatment may involve fi ne pulverization to colloidal size with a
colloid mill or a micropulverizer.

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