Asymmetric charge renormalization for nanoparticles in aqueous media

P. González-Mozuelos*, M. Olvera De La Cruz

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

The effective renormalized charge of nanoparticles in an aqueous electrolyte is essential to determine their solubility. By using a molecular model for the supporting aqueous electrolyte, we find that the effective renormalized charge of the nanoparticles is strongly dependent on the sign of the bare charge. Negatively charged nanoparticles have a lower effective renormalized charge than positively charged nanoparticles. The degree of asymmetry is a nonmonotonic function of the bare charge of the nanoparticle. We show that the effect is due to the asymmetric charge distribution of the water molecules, which we model using a simple three-site molecular structure of point charges.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number031901
JournalPhysical Review E - Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics
Volume79
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 3 2009

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Statistical and Nonlinear Physics
  • Statistics and Probability
  • Condensed Matter Physics

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