Charge Fluctuations and Counterion Condensation
Soft Condensed Matter
2016-08-31 v1
Abstract
We predict a condensation phenomenon in an overall neutral system, consisting of a single charged plate and its oppositely charged counterions. Based on the ``two-fluid'' model, in which the counterions are divided into a ``free'' and a ``condensed'' fraction, we argue that for high surface charge, fluctuations can lead to a phase transition in which a large fraction of counterions is condensed. Furthermore, we show that depending on the valence, the condensation is either a first-order or a smooth transition.
Cite
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0202428,
title = {Charge Fluctuations and Counterion Condensation},
author = {A. W. C. Lau and D. B. Lukatsky and P. Pincus and S. A. Safran},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0202428},
year = {2016}
}
Comments
16 pages, 1 figure, accepted to be published in PRE