Hi there Mike and List, I've been talking to scientists and chemists (professors) at the local university about colloidal particles. They have given me lots of stuff to read and have discussed colloidal systems for many hours with me. I'm a bit overwhelmed by the huge amount of info and its complexity.
I'll probably take months to get to the bottom of this "CS-thing", and this is only the chemisty side of it! The biology side is the real "monster". Anyway, there is one thing I'd like to quickly mention: Zeta Potential. Bottom line first: The higher the zeta potential, the more stable the colloidal solution will be. But the RIGHT zeta potential is maybe more important. The zeta potential is basically the charge that develops at the surface of a colloidal particle. An individual particle and its most closely associated ions move through the solution as a unit and the potential at the boundary of this unit, i.e., at the surface of shear between the particle with its ion atmosphere and the surrounding medium (water), is known as the zeta potential. Now these HVAC dudes say that their CS has a looong shelf live. So I asked the professor if it is then not desireable to have as high a zeta potential as possible... He says "maybe not". He strongly suspects that the zeta potential of the silver particle and its ion atmosphere around it has everything to do with penetrating cell walls and its "killing power" etc. So the highest zeta potential (zp) is not neccessarily the best one, but the RIGHT zeta potential is the best one for the specific purpose of the CS treatment. Get the point? Bigger is maybe not always better. Naturally, one would have to do serious biological study to check this out. So now I'm wondering if yellow CS is really inferior. What if the lower voltage produces a smaller particle with a better zeta potential to really kick mr. bacteria's ass? I suspect (and I'll start reading up on it soon) that HVAC produces the highest zp, and therefore the longest shelf life. Interesting to note here is that glass bottles contaminate any solution over an even relatively short time with some (forgot the names) ions. Therfore the lab makes fresh distilled water as they need it. It goes off in bottles. Maybe yellow CS's shelf life is ok? But maybe HVAC is really best in all areas? Maybe yellow CS kills bugs better? All I'm really saying here is that maybe we should not believe all the CS-generator makers's words as the ultimate "truth". It seems to me that none of them have even tested their product's zp. Who has checked how particle size and zp correlate with "kill ability"? And what is safer for long term usage? So maybe whe should not throw out the battery gizmo's yet... Best, C. --------- Christian von Wechmar Stellenbosch, South Africa --------- -- The silver-list is a moderated forum for discussion of colloidal silver. To join or quit silver-list or silver-digest send an e-mail message to: [email protected] -or- [email protected] with the word subscribe or unsubscribe in the subject: line. To post, address your message to: [email protected] List maintainer: Mike Devour <[email protected]>
