Electrical Aspects of Surface Chemistry

The influence of electrical charges on surfaces is very important to their physical chemistry. The Coulombic interaction between charged colloids is responsible for a myriad of behaviors from the formation of opals to the stability of biological cells. Although this is a broad subject involving both practical application and fundamental physics and chemistry, we must limit our discussion to those areas having direct implications for surface science. 

The discussion focuses on two broad aspects of electrical phenomena at interfaces in the first we determine the consequences of the presence of electrical charges at an interface with an electrolyte solution, and in the second we explore the nature of the potential occurring at phase boundaries. Even within these areas, frequent reference will be made to various specialized treatises dealing with such subjects rather than attempting to cover the general literature. One important application, namely, to the treatment of long-range forces between surfaces, is developed in the next chapter. 

One complication is the matter of units while the Systeme International d Unites (SI) requires additional and sometimes awkward constants, its broad use requires attention [1]. Hence, while we present the derivation in the cgs/esu system, we show alternative forms appropriate to the SI system in Tables V-1 and V-2. 

---