Effect of Ion Dispersion Forces on the Electric Double Layer of Colloids: A Monte Carlo Simulation Study

In this work, the effect of ionic dispersion forces on the electric double layer of colloids is evaluated through Monte Carlo simulations. Particularly, the influence of these forces on the zeta-potential (as a representative electrokinetic property) is assessed. Ion polarizability is included in the primitive model with the help of the Lifshitz theory. In this way, ion specificity is not considered by means of phenomenological (and unknown a priori) parameters. Our results reveal that the ionic van der Waals forces are responsible (to some extent) for the specificity of the zeta-potential. In any case, the specific ion effects due to ion polarizability are strongly influenced by ion size. Furthermore, a preliminary study on the effect of ionic dehydration shows how this phenomenon improves the qualitative agreement between experimental data and simulations achieved in considering ionic dispersion forces.