Dielectric Response of a Concentrated Colloidal Suspension in a Salt-Free Medium

Abstract

In this paper the complex dielectric constant of a concentrated colloidal suspension in a salt-free medium is theoretically evaluated using a cell model approximation. To our knowledge this is the first cell model in the literature addressing the dielectric response of a salt-free concentrated suspension. For this reason, we extensively study the influence of all the parameters relevant for such a dielectric response: the particle surface charge, radius, and volume fraction, the counterion properties, and the frequency of the applied electric field (subgigahertz range). Our results display the so-called counterion condensation effect for high particle charge, previously described in the literature for the electrophoretic mobility, and also the relaxation processes occurring in a wide frequency range and their consequences on the complex electric dipole moment induced on the particles by the oscillating electric field. As we already pointed out in a recent paper regarding the dynamic electrophoretic mobility of a colloidal particle in a salt-free concentrated suspension, the competition between these relaxation processes is decisive for the dielectric response throughout the frequency range of interest. Finally, we examine the dielectric response of highly charged particles in more depth, because some singular electrokinetic behaviors of salt-free suspensions have been reported for such cases that have not been predicted for salt-containing suspensions.