Differences between lyophilic and lyophobic sols are as follows:
| PROPERTIES | LYOPHILIC SOLS | LYOPHOBIC SOLS |
| Ease of preparation | Prepared easily by directly mixing with the liquid dispersion medium. | Cannot be prepared directly. Prepared by special methods only. |
| Solubility | They are quite stable and are not easily precipitated or coagulated. | They are easily precipitated by addition of a small amount of a suitable electrolyte. |
| Hydration | They are highly hydrated. | They are not much hydrated. |
| Reversible and irreversible nature | They are reversible in nature i.e. once precipitated can return the colloidal sol by simply remixing with the dispersion medium. | They are irreversible in nature i.e. once precipitated cannot return the colloidal sol by simply addition of the dispersion medium. |
| Nature of substance | These sols are usually formed by the organic substances like starch, gum, proteins etc. | These sols are usually formed by the inorganic materials like metals, their sulphides etc. |
| Viscosity | Their viscosity is much than that of the medium. | Their viscosity is almost the same as that of the medium. |
| Surface tension | Their surface tension is usually lower than that of the dispersion medium. | Their surface tension is nearly small than that of the dispersion medium. |
| Visibility | Their particles are neither visible nor detected easily by the ultra microscope. | Their particles though not visible, can be detected easily by the ultra microscope. |
| Migration in an electric field | Their particles may migrate in either direction. | Their particles migrate only in one direction of electric field. |
