Basic Principles: Thermodynamics and Colloidal Chemistry

Abstract

To obtain a complete understanding of the crystallization and growth process of a nanocrystal in a colloidal dispersion, knowledge of basic thermodynamics and colloidal chemistry principles is essential. For instance, the classical crystallization process is based on a Gibbs free energy (G) analysis where the free energy of the bulk crystal is considered as a surface free energy contribution. Thus, a brief introduction of thermodynamics principles is important to facilitate an analysis of the crystallization and growth process. Therefore, a revision of the basic principles related to colloidal chemistry will be presented because the main bottom-up chemical approach to synthesize nanocrystals is based on a colloidal synthesis process [1, 2].