ABSTRACT
The coulombic attraction theory is well adapted to explain the existence, extent and properties of the two-phase region of colloid stability. Before setting out on the exact mean field theory solution to the one-dimensional colloid problem, the author emphasizes the existence of the reversible phase transition in the n-butylammonium vermiculite system that provides decisive evidence in favor of the model. The calculations presented in this chapter are deeply rooted in their agreement with the experimental facts on the best-studied system of plate macroions, the n-butylammonium vermiculite system. Application of such a mean field description to macroionic solutions leads to a Helmholtz pair potential of the screened-coulomb type for macroions, alike in Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (DLVO) theory, Sogami-Ise (SI) theory and the author's own application of SI theory to plate macroions. The author also calculates the Gibbs free energy without resort to the linearization approximation, using an integral representation of the Gibbs free energy that is derived recently.
