Ion–ion correlations in electrolyte solutions adsorbed in disordered electroneutral charged matrices from replica Ornstein–Zernike equations

Abstract

The replica Ornstein–Zernike (ROZ) equations, supplemented by the hypernetted chain and mean spherical closures, were solved for an ionic fluid adsorbed in a disordered charged matrix. To obtain the numerical solution of the ROZ equations we performed renormalization of the initial equations. Both the matrix and adsorbed fluid were modeled as charged hard spheres in a dielectric continuum, i.e., in the so-called restricted primitive model. As a result, the pair distribution functions between fluid ions and for fluid-matrix correlations were obtained. Structural properties were studied as a function of the matrix density, the concentration of adsorbed electrolyte and for different prequenching conditions. The isothermal compressibility, excess internal energy, and the chemical potential were calculated and discussed with respect to of the model parameters. Comparison with the Monte Carlo computer simulations of Bratko and Chakraborty [J. Chem. Phys. 104, 7700 (1996)] indicates that the theory yields qualitatively correct results for the model system.