Charge density: diffuse layer

The effect known either as electroosmosis or electroendosmosis is a complement to that of electrophoresis. In the latter case, when a field F is applied, the surface or particle is mobile and moves relative to the solvent, which is fixed (in laboratory coordinates). If, however, the surface is fixed, it is the mobile diffuse layer that moves under an applied field, carrying solution with it. If one has a tube of radius r whose walls possess a certain potential and charge density, then Eqs. V-35 and V-36 again apply, with v now being the velocity of the diffuse layer. For water at 25°C, a field of about 1500 V/cm is needed to produce a velocity of 1 cm/sec if f is 100 mV (see Problem V-14). 

Derive the general equation for the differential capacity of the diffuse double layer from the Gouy-Chapman equations. Make a plot of surface charge density tr versus this capacity. Show under what conditions your expressions reduce to the simple Helmholtz formula of Eq. V-17. 

From the ion density profiles it is obvious that the surface charge is screened within less than 10 A. Thus, the thickness of the diffuse layer is of the same order of magnitude as the one derived from the Debye... 

The Stern model (1924) may be regarded as a synthesis of the Helmholz model of a layer of ions in contact with the electrode (Fig. 20.2) and the Gouy-Chapman diffuse model (Fig. 20.10), and it follows that the net charge density on the solution side of the interphase is now given by... 

In the second group of models, the pc surface consists only of very small crystallites with a linear parameter y, whose sizes are comparable with the electrical double-layer parameters, i.e., with the effective Debye screening length in the bulk of the diffuse layer near the face j.262,263 In the case of such electrodes, inner layers at different monocrystalline areas are considered to be independent, but the diffuse layer is common for the entire surface of a pc electrode and depends on the average charge density <7pc = R ZjOjOj [Fig. 10(b)]. The capacitance Cj al is obtained by the equation... 

A review is given of the application of Molecular Dynamics (MD) computer simulation to complex molecular systems. Three topics are treated in particular the computation of free energy from simulations, applied to the prediction of the binding constant of an inhibitor to the enzyme dihydrofolate reductase the use of MD simulations in structural refinements based on two-dimensional high-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance data, applied to the lac repressor headpiece the simulation of a hydrated lipid bilayer in atomic detail. The latter shows a rather diffuse structure of the hydrophilic head group layer with considerable local compensation of charge density. 

In the analysis of molecular capacitors, the diffuse layer and elastic capacitors, we have always assumed that the electrode charge density a could be controlled. Under such conditions it is generally possible for C to become negative while the system remains stable. For example, contraction of the gap z in an elastic capacitor proceeds smoothly with cr growing until the plates come in contact, while C becomes negative for z < 2/3. At the same time, as shown in Section II for an EC connected to a battery, the EC collapses after z 0.6 is reached. How can these seemingly contradictory results be reconciled And how can cr-control be related to reality Is C < 0 observable These questions are addressed in this section. 

The charge density on the electrode a(m) is mostly found from Eq. (4.2.24) or (4.2.26) or measured directly (see Section 4.4). The differential capacity of the compact layer Cc can be calculated from Eq. (4.3.1) for known values of C and Cd. It follows from experiments that the quantity Cc for surface inactive electrolytes is a function of the potential applied to the electrode, but is not a function of the concentration of the electrolyte. Thus, if the value of Cc is known for a single concentration, it can be used to calculate the total differential capacity C at an arbitrary concentration of the surface-inactive electrolyte and the calculated values can be compared with experiment. This comparison is a test of the validity of the diffuse layer theory. Figure 4.5 provides examples of theoretical and experimental capacity curves for the non-adsorbing electrolyte NaF. Even at a concentration of 0.916 mol dm-3, the Cd value is not sufficient to permit us to set C Cc. 

By means of the thermodynamic theory of the double layer and the theory of the diffuse layer it is possible to determine the charge density ox corresponding to the adsorbed ions, i.e. ions in the inner Helmholtz plane, and the potential of the outer Helmholtz plane 2 in the presence of specific adsorption. 

The charge density of specifically adsorbed ions (assuming that anions are adsorbed specifically while cations are present only in the diffuse layer) for a valence-symmetrical electrolyte (z+ = — z = z) is... 

An electroosmotic flux is formed as a result of the effect of the electric field in the direction normal to the pores in the membrane, delectric diffuse layer in the pore with a charge density p. The charges move in the direction of the x axis (i.e. in the direction of the field), together with the whole solution with velocity v. At steady state... 

Equation (2.33) now defines the double layer in the final model of the structure of the electrolyte near the electrode specifically adsorbed ions and solvent in the IHP, solvated ions forming a plane parallel to the electrode in the OHP and a dilfuse layer of ions having an excess of ions charged opposite to that on the electrode. The excess charge density in the latter region decays exponentially with distance away from the OHP. In addition, the Stern model allows some prediction of the relative importance of the diffuse vs. Helmholtz layers as a function of concentration. Table 2.1 shows... 

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