The term refers to a state of subdivision, implying that the molecules or polymolecular
particles dispersed in a medium have at least in one direction a dimension roughly
between
and
,
or that in a system discontinuities are found at distances of that order.
Source:
PAC, 1972, 31, 577
(Manual of Symbols and Terminology for Physicochemical Quantities and Units, Appendix
II: Definitions, Terminology and Symbols in Colloid and Surface Chemistry)
on page 605
Cite as:
IUPAC. Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. (the "Gold Book"). Compiled by
A. D. McNaught and A.Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford (1997).
XML on-line corrected version: http://goldbook.iupac.org (2006-) created by M. Nic,
J. Jirat, B. Kosata; updates compiled by A. Jenkins. ISBN 0-9678550-9-8.
https://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.
