On electrical effects due to sound waves in colloidal suspensions

Abstract

In this paper, the electrical effects accompanying the propagation of sound waves through a suspension of spherical colloidal particles in an electrolyte are examined. It is shown that, for charged colloidal particles, differences of potential arise between different points in the wave train. A general method is given for obtaining the amplitude of the potential difference in the case when the thickness of the double-layer surrounding the particles is small compared with the particle radius, as a power series in the zeta-potential and the leading term in this series is evaluated, so that the results will be adequate for zeta-potentials which are not too large. An exact expression is obtained for the case when the thickness of the double-layer is very much greater than the particle radius but still much less than the mean separation. An attempt is also made to estimate the effect for intermediate values of the double-layer thickness. The amplitude of the potential difference decreases with increasing concentration of electrolyte and, when measured between points a half-wave-length apart, is substantially independent of the frequency of the sound waves, except at very high frequencies. The results are compared with the experimental data.