Surface Charge Regulation Effects on Fluidic Nanoscale Systems
Electrostatic properties of uidic nanoscale systems are of fundamental interest and play an important role in many engineering applications. Due to the large surface area to volume ratios of these systems, interfacial phenomena are of key importance to understanding their behavior. We present several studies of uidic nanoscale systems using the Poisson{Boltzmann equation which treats the uid as a continuum, and density functional theory of uids which uses a statistical mechanical treatment of the uid that includes nite-size e ects. Chemical equilibria at the interface is accounted for by coupling these methods with charge regulating theory. The e ects of charge regulation lead to several novel predictions about uidic nanoscale systems including pH dependent conductivities, reduced stability of doped colloidal dispersions, and a dependence of the surface charge on the solvent structure.
semiconductor-electrolyte interface, nanopore conductivity, nanochannel conductivity, ion size effect, solvent size effect, electrostatic double-layer, semiconductor colloid stability
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