The interaction of two identical spherical colloidal particles - The interaction of two identical spherical colloidal particles. I. Potential distribution

Abstract

The potential distribution in the electric double layers of two identical spherical colloidal particles is obtained numerically for cases covering wide ranges of the particle radius, particle separation and surface potential. The method of solution of the Poisson-Boltzmann equation by finite differences on an electronic computer is described, and the distributions obtained are used to discuss the accuracy of the approximate methods that have been developed. It is shown that a series of spherical harmonics (which is only valid for low surface potential) is practical only for small particles and large separation, and unless these conditions hold, accurate results may only be obtained by retaining many terms in the series.