Charge regulation and ionic screening of patchy surfaces

Niels Boon; René van Roij

doi:10.1063/1.3533279

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arXiv · 1009.6160

Charge regulation and ionic screening of patchy surfaces

Niels Boon·René van Roij

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Abstract

The properties of surfaces with charge-regulated patches are studied using non-linear Poisson-Boltzmann theory. Using a mode expansion to solve the non-linear problem efficiently, we reveal the charging behaviour of Debye-length sized patches. We find that patches charge up to higher charge densities if their size is relatively small and if the patches are well separated. The numerical results are used to construct a basic analytical model which predicts the average surface charge density on surfaces with patchy chargeable groups.

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Niels Boon, René van Roij. 2010-09-30. Charge regulation and ionic screening of patchy surfaces. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3533279

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