Critical behavior of charge-regulated macro-ions

Yael Avni, Rudolf Podgornik, David Andelman*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Scopus citations

Abstract

Based on a collective description of electrolytes composed of charge-regulated macro-ions and simple salt ions, we analyze their equilibrium charge state in the bulk and their behavior in the vicinity of an external electrified surface. The mean-field formulation of mobile macro-ions in an electrolyte bathing solution is extended to include interactions between association and dissociation sites. We demonstrate that above a critical concentration of salt, similar to the critical micelle concentration, a non-trivial distribution of charge states sets in. Such a charge state can eventually lead to a liquid-liquid phase separation based on charge regulation.

Original languageEnglish
Article number024901
JournalJournal of Chemical Physics
Volume153
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 14 Jul 2020

Funding

FundersFunder number
1000-Talents Program of the Chinese Foreign Experts Bureau
Clore Israel Foundation
NSFC-ISF3396/19
Naomi Foundation
Israel Science Foundation213/19
Tel Aviv University
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences

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