Abstract
The solvation forces between two planar charged surfaces in ionic solutions, corresponding to charged and neutral hard spheres representing the ions and the solvent, respectively, are studied here using a weighted density functional theory for inhomogeneous Coulomb systems developed by us recently. The hard sphere contributions to the one-particle correlation function are evaluated nonperturbatively using a position-dependent effective density, while the electrical contributions are obtained through a perturbative expansion around this weighted density. The calculated results on the solvation forces between two charged hard walls compare well with available simulation results for ionic systems. For a neutral system, the present results show good agreement with the experimentally observed oscillating forces for two mica surfaces in octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane. The present approach thus provides a direct route to the calculation of interaction energies between colloidal particles.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
