Surface tension, stickiness and engulfment

The thermodynamic conditions for the engulfment of one set of particles by another has been given in terms of interfacial energies. Experimentally, it has been shown that a polymer with a high glass transition temperature can be engulfed by a particle of low glass transition temperature; also, that inorganic particles can be engulfed by polymer particles. As a precursor to the engulfment stage heterocoagulation can be used for bringing the particles together in a "sticking" mode. This appears to be a general process which is applicable to a number of scientific areas, e.g. in biology, phagocytosis, and in material science for the preparation of composite particles.