Interactions between charged surfaces mediated by molecules with spatially distributed charges

Abstract

A short review of recent theoretical advances in studies of the interaction between highly charged systems is presented. Such a system could not be described by the mean field theory. More advanced methods have to be used in order to introduce the correlations between highly charged particles. In this work I focus on the system of highly charged surfaces, separated by a solution of molecules with spatially distributed charge. Two different representations of the molecular shape will be considered: rod-like and spherical. The system will be theoretically described by the density functional theory. For sufficiently long molecules and large surface charge densities, an attractive force between like-charged surfaces arises due to the spatially distributed charges within the molecules. The added salt has influence on the condition for the attractive force between like-charged surfaces. The theoretical results will be compared with Monte Carlo (MC) simulations. Recent measurements with multivalent rigid rod-like particles will be discussed.