The Xth European Colloid and Interface Society (ECIS) Conference was conducted jointly with its Finnish counterpart (PKS-YKS) in Abo (Turku), Finland, in September 1996.
The focus was placed on the following topics:

• Properties of microemulsion systems; - Structure and interactions in thin films; - Biocolloids and vesicles; - Structure and interactions in dispersions; - Polymers at solid interfaces; - Polymers in solutions.
  This volume presents a balanced and representative selection of the papers presented at the conference.

Inhalt
Preface.- Dispersibility of yttria-doped zirconia powders in aqueous media.- Polyoxyethylene di-phosphonates as dispersing agents.- Osmotic deswelling of microgel particles in the presence of free polymer.- The interaction of thermosensitive, anionic microgels with metal ion solution species.- AFM-studies of interparticle forces.- Measurement of the interfacial tension of demixed colloid-polymer suspensions.- Adsorption kinetics of a semi-flexible polymer.- The behavior of ferric oxide hydrosols in the presence of urea.- Dynamics and growth of silver iodide polydispersed particles determined by light scattering.- Wetting of solids by liquids with low and high viscosity.- Pore structure characteristics of sintered TiO2 doped ?-Al2O3.- Counter-ion adsorption and homogeneity of TiO2/ZrO2 nanoparticles from SANS contrast variation.- Surface fractal dimension by nitrogen adsorption of microporous sol-gel processed SiO2 ceramics.- Effect of surfactants on zeta potential and static electricity of viscose fibres.- The influence of capillarity on the location of liquid soils on textile fabrics.- Silane treated glass fibers.- Small angle x-ray diffraction studies of PET fibres.- Nonionic surfactants in cylindrical hydrophilic pores.- Surface topography and mechanical properties of smectite films.- Temperature and subphase influence on mixed biosurfactant monolayers formation.- Photophysical studies of aerosol-OT films loaded with biological macromolecules and made from reverse micelles.- Study of the polymer-surfactant interaction in black films and monolayers.- Adsorption of multivalent ions on charged Langmuir monolayers.- An apparatus for investigating dynamic surface properties of adsorption layers and spread monolayers.- Phase transitions in adsorption layers: comparisonwith Langmuir monolayers.- Interaction between molecules in the mixed spread films at the water/air interface.- 2D shape relaxation dynamics in amphiphile monolayers.- Alkane solubilization in soluble monolayers of 4(4?-alkylphenylazo) benzenesulfonates at the air-water surface.- Photochromic properties of anionic azobenzene amphiphiles in solution and Langmuir Blodgett films.- Hydrophobic polymers, tethered to the water surface I: fluid monolayers.- Hydrophobic polymers, tethered to the water surface II: free-standing rubber-elastic LB-films.- The behavior of amphotericin B monolayers at the air/water interface.- Pseudomonas cepacia lipase localization in lecitihin and AOT w/o microemulsions. A fluorescence energy transfer study.- Polymer-like lecithin reverse micelles: a multicomponent self-diffusion study.- Permeability changes in liposomes modeling the stratum corneum lipid composition caused by surfactants.- Elastic properties of lipid bilayer containing modified lipids.- Headgroup mobility in lecithin inverse worm-like micelles.- Rupture of lipid membranes.- Reversibly formed bilayer vesicles: energetics and polydispersity.- Study of lecithin reverse micelles by FT-IR spectroscopy.- Spontaneous formation of zwitterionic vesicles: chemical structure-vesicle formation relationships.- Emulsions stabilized with hydrophobically modified poly(acrylic acid).- Formation of highly concentrated emulsions in water/sucrose dodecanoate oil systems.- Formation and stability of highly concentrated emulsions (gel emulsions): influence of aromatic aliphatic hydrocarbon interactions.- Ostwald ripening of concentrated alkane emulsions: a comparison of fiber-optics dynamic light scattering and conventional dynamic light scattering.- Dielectric study of Mg(AOT)2 reverse micelles.-Model studies on the n-alkane emulsions stability.- The effect of alcohols on the size of water-in-oil microemulsion droplets.- Sound velocity and interaction energy in concentrated aqueous solutions of hexaoxyethylene dodecylether.- A novel shear-induced phase transition of worm-like micelles: gemini surfactant 12-2-12.- Towards the comprehension of the cosurfactant role: a NMR self-diffusion and conductivity study of a four-components water-in-oil microemulsion.- Effect of PEG on the stability of AOT microemulsions.- Dynamics of living and dead polymers studied by electrooptical birefringence.- Dielectric properties of highly concentrated water-in-oil microemulsions.- Effect of non-ionic surfactants on interfacial rheological properties of crude oil/water systems.- Microenvironment characteristics of microemulsions stabilized by cyclic acetal-type cationic surfactants.- Phase behavior of nine binary surfactant systems consisting of N-alkylpyridinium octanesulfonates.- Temperature effect on shear induced transition in surfactant solution.- Thermodynamic and transport properties of viscoelastic and gel-like solutions in micellar solutions: Water+CTAB +phenol.- Excess solubilization of lindane in bicontinuous microemulsions.- Bending elasticities of di-chained surfactant films in microemulsions.- Adsorption kinetics of alkyl phosphine oxides in water/alkane systems with transfer across the interface.- Phase equilibria of charged lamellar phases: Effect of adding surfactants with sugar headgroups on interbilayer repulsions.- Phase equilibria in two aqueous chiral surfactant systems.- Lyotropic liquid crystalline phases from symmetric double-tailed undecyl-,tridecyl-, and pentadecyl-benzenesulphonates.