Model for the Interaction of Biocolloidal Particles

According to the Derjaguin-Landau-Ver wey-Overbeek (DLVO) theor y of colloid stability, the balance of the van der Waals attraction and the electrostatic repulsion acting between colloidal particles determines the stability of their suspensions.The DLVO theor y can be applied to hard par ticles with no sur face structures.Biocolloidal par ticles such as cells, on the other hand, are not simple hard par ticles but can be modeled as soft par ticles, i.e., hard par ticles covered with a sur face layer of polyelectrolytes.In this review ar ticle, we star t with the traditional DLVO theor y and then discuss a new theor y of interactions between soft par ticles, which can be applied to the interaction of biocolloidal par ticles.