Nonlinear electrophoresis of ideally polarizable particles

Abstract

We focus in this paper on the nonlinear electrophoresis of ideally polarizable particles. At high applied voltages, significant ionic exchange occurs between the electric double layer, which surrounds the particle, and the bulk solution. In addition, steric effects due to the finite size of ions drastically modify the electric potential distribution in the electric double layer. In this situation, the velocity field, the electric potential, and the ionic concentration in the immediate vicinity of the particle are described by a complicated set of coupled nonlinear partial differential equations. In the general case, these equations must be solved numerically. In this study, we rely on a numerical approach to determine the electric potential, the ionic concentration, and the velocity field in the bulk solution surrounding the particle. The numerical simulations rely on a pseudo-spectral method which was used successfully by Chu and Bazant [J. Colloid Interface Sci. 315(1), 319–329 (2007)] to determine the electric potential and the ionic concentration around an ideally polarizable metallic sphere. Our numerical simulations also incorporate the steric model developed by Kilic et al. [Phys. Rev. E 75, 021502 (2007)] to account for crowding effects in the electric double layer, advective transport, and for the presence of a body force in the bulk electrolyte. The simulations demonstrate that surface conduction significantly decreases the electrophoretic mobility of polarizable particles at high zeta potential and at high applied electric field. Advective transport in the electric double layer and in the bulk solution is also shown to significantly impact surface conduction.