Multicharged Colloids at the Metal/Electrolyte Interface

Abstract

The electrostatic properties of multicharged colloids (the so-called DLVO complexes) at the interface of two media with different permittivities are discussed. It is shown that being quasi-neutral in the electrolyte volume, the DLVO colloids turn out to be partly charged near the z = 0 boundary that separates these media. The problem of the interaction of an individual colloid, which has a solid inoculating core R0≫a0, (a0 is the interatomic distance) and the charge Q=Ze≫e (e is elementary charge), with the metal/electrolyte interface is considered in detail. The problem has various applications in the diagnosis of DLVO complexes and the practice of dealing with solutions capable of maintaining the electrophoretic motion of colloidal assembles.