Aimed at technical people not familiar with colloid science and silica chemistry, this book presents theoretical and experimental aspects of significant areas of colloidal silica science and technology, which has applications in fields as diverse as catalysis, metallurgy, electronics, glass, ceramics, paper and pulp technology, optics, elastomers, food, health care, and industrial chromatography. The 67 chapters are presented in sections dealing with fundamentals, preparation of sols, stability of sols, surface chemistry of silica, particle size and characterization techniques, silica gels and powders, sol-gel technology, silica coatings, uses of colloidal silicas, NMR of silica edge, research in Russia, and analytic methods. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)