Electrical double layer effective thickness

In the small nanochaimels (from a few to about 100 nm), the electric double layer (EDL) thickness becomes larger or at least comparable with the nanochaimels lateral dimensions. It affects the balance of bulk ionic concentrations of co-ions and counterions in the nanochannels. Thus, many conventional approaches such as the Poisson—Boltzmann equation and the Helmholtz-Smoluchowski slip velocity, which are based on the thin EDL assumption and equal number of co-ions and counterions, lose their credibility and cannot be utilized to model the electrokinetic effects through these nanoscale channels. The Poisson equation, the Navier-Stokes equations, and the Nemst-Planck equation should be solved directly to model the electrokinetic effects and find the electric... 

Consider a thin liqmd Aim in air for which the Hamaker constant Ah is 5 x K)- erg and electrical double-layer effects are negligible. If viscosity is 1 cp, density is 1 g/cm. Aim thickness is 50 nm, and surface tension is 40 mN/m, And the wavenumbers and of the critical and fastest growing disturbances and the time factor (3 for growth of the latter using the inextmisible interface results given above. Compare with the corresponding results for a free interface in the inviscid approximation. 

Bohinc K, Kralj-Iglic V, Iglic A (2001) Thickness of electrical double layer. Effect of ion size. Eiectrochim Acta 46 3033-3040... 

Particles dispersed in an aqueous medium invariably carry an electric charge. Thus they are surrounded by an electrical double-layer whose thickness k depends on the ionic strength of the solution. Flow causes a distortion of the local ionic atmosphere from spherical symmetry, but the Maxwell stress generated from the asymmetric electric field tends to restore the equilibrium symmetry of the double-layer. This leads to enhanced energy dissipation and hence an increased viscosity. This phenomenon was first described by Smoluchowski, and is now known as the primary electroviscous effect. For a dispersion of charged hard spheres of radius a at a concentration low enough for double-layers not to overlap (d> 8a ic ), the intrinsic viscosity defined by eqn. (5.2) increases... 

Equation 46 suggests that, maintaining pi constant, q, must depend linearly on if only a first-order electroviscous effect exists, and an increase in the electrolyte concentration implies a decrease in the thickness, 1/k, of the electrical double layer. 

The concept of surface concentration Cg j requires closer definition. At the surface itself the ionic concentrations will change not only as a result of the reaction but also because of the electric double layer present at the surface. Surface concentration is understood to be the concentration at a distance from the surface small compared to diffusion-layer thickness, yet so large that the effects of the EDL are no fonger felt. This condition usually is met at points about 1 nm from the surface. 

The air gas-diffusion electrode developed in this laboratory [5] is a double-layer tablet (thickness ca.1.5 mm), which separates the electrolyte in the cell from the surrounding air. The electrode comprises two layers a porous, from highly hydrophobic, electrically conductive gas layer (from the side of the air) and a catalytic layer (from the side of the electrolyte). The gas layer consists of a carbon-based hydrophobic material produced from acetylene black and PTFE by a special technology [6], The high porosity of the gas layer ensures effective oxygen supply into the reaction zone of the electrode simultaneously the leakage of the electrolyte through the electrode... 

Table 1. Effect of buffer concentration c on thickness of the electrical double layer 6 [33]...

An illustration of the effect of micelle/nanoparticle volume fraction on contact line motion is found in [57]. They used 0.1 M NaCl solution to reduce the electrical double layer thickness surrounding the NaDS micelle. At a given number concentration of micelles, decreasing the size of each micelle decreases the volume fraction greatly, since the volume of each spherical micelle varies as the third power of the radius. Thus, the addition of electrolyte effectively reduced the micellar volume fraction in the aqueous medium. The authors found that the oil droplet that would otherwise become completely detached from the solid surface, came back to reattach itself to the solid when electrolyte was present. They rationalized this finding as being caused by the inability of the weakened structural disjoining forces to counteract the attraction of the oil drop to the solid surface. 

Finally, if the thickness of the electrical double layer (diffuse layer) in the droplet is comparable with r, the r dependence of kqbs will be dependent on the TBA+ concentration in the droplet since the spatial distribution of the inner electric potential of the droplet varies with [TBA+TPB ], However, since results analogous with those in Figure 14a ([TBA+TPB ] = 10 mM) have been obtained even at [TBA+TPB"] = 5mM (Aodiffuse layer effect does not contribute to the r effect on kobs at r > 1 /an. 

Two additional stabilizing influences will be summarized next that of viscoelastic films and that of solid-particle films. In general, where electrical surface charge is an important determinant of stability, it is easier to formulate a very stable O/W emulsion than a W/O emulsion because the electric double layer thickness is much greater in water than in oil. (This is sometimes incorrectly stated in terms of greater charge being present on droplets in an O/W emulsion.) However, there are ways to effectively stabilize W/O emulsions. 

A quantitative treatment of the effects of electrolytes on colloid stability has been independently developed by Deryagen and Landau and by Verwey and Over-beek (DLVO), who considered the additive of the interaction forces, mainly electrostatic repulsive and van der Waals attractive forces as the particles approach each other. Repulsive forces between particles arise from the overlapping of the diffuse layer in the electrical double layer of two approaching particles. No simple analytical expression can be given for these repulsive interaction forces. Under certain assumptions, the surface potential is small and remains constant the thickness of the double layer is large and the overlap of the electrical double layer is small. The repulsive energy (VR) between two spherical particles of equal size can be calculated by ... 

A linear relationship exists between the ESA or CVP amplitude and the volume fraction of the suspended particles. At relatively high-volume fractions, hydrodynamic and electric double-layer interactions lead to a non-linear dependence of these two effects on volume fraction. Generally, non-linear behavior can be expected when the electric double-layer thickness is comparable to the interparticle spacing. In most aqueous systems, where the electric double layer is thin relative to the particle radius, the electro-acoustic signal will remain linear with respect to volume fraction up to 10% by volume. At volume-fractions that are even higher, particle-particle interactions lead to a reduction in the dynamic mobility. 

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