INTERACTION FREE-ENERGY BETWEEN IDENTICAL SPHERICAL COLLOIDAL PARTICLES - THE LINEARIZED POISSON-BOLTZMANN THEORY

The linearized Poisson-Boltzmann theory is used to calculate the electrical double-layer interaction free energy between identical spherical colloidal particles. Results are given for interaction under conditions of constant surface potential, constant surface charge, and for the case in which charge regulation due to the dissociation of surface groups may be modeled by a linear relationship between the surface charge and the surface potential. Accurate results are obtained using a two-center expansion for the solution of the linearized Poisson-Boltzmann equation and numerical implementations of the algorithm are given for a full range of particles sizes, κa, and particle separations, κh. © 1993 Academic Press, Inc.