ELECTROSTATIC INTERACTIONS BETWEEN PARTICLES WITH AN ION-PENETRABLE CHARGED MEMBRANE

The electrostatic interactions between spherical particles suspended in an electrolyte solution is analyzed. The surfaces of these particles are coated with an ion-penetrable membrane, which bears nonuniformly distributed fixed charges. We consider two classes of fixed charge distributions; these distributions all yield the same amount of total fixed charges in the membrane phase. The exact solution to the governing Poisson-Boltzmann equation is derived for the case the potential of the system under consideration is low. Based on this solution, the stability ratio and the critical coagulation concentration of a dispersed system are estimated. © 1995 American Institute of Physics.