= Critical coagulation concentration
{title2=CCC}
The critical coagulation concentration is the approximate electrolyte concentration separating slow, barrier-limited aggregation from rapid aggregation of a charge-stabilized <colloid>. In the simplest <DLVO theory>, increasing salt shortens the <Debye–Hückel screening length> and lowers the repulsive barrier until rapid aggregation is possible. It depends on particle charge, solvent, temperature and particularly counterion valence. It is a kinetic crossover, not a universal salt concentration or necessarily an equilibrium phase boundary. Aggregation just below this crossover can be reaction limited; exactly at or above the rapid-aggregation threshold, proximity to the threshold alone does not imply a small sticking probability.
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