Measuring surface charge: why experimental characterization and molecular modeling should be coupled

Abstract

Surface charge controls many static and dynamic properties of soft matter and micro/nanofluidic systems, but its unambiguous measurement forms a challenge. Standard characterization methods typically probe an effective surface charge, which provides limited insight into the distribution and dynamics of charge across the interface, and which cannot predict consistently all surface-charge-governed properties. New experimental approaches provide local information on both structure and transport, but models are typically required to interpret raw data. Conversely, molecular dynamics simulations have helped showing the limits of standard models and developing more accurate ones, but their reliability is limited by the empirical interaction potentials they are usually based on. This review highlights recent developments and limitations in both experimental and computational research focusing on the liquid-solid interface. Based on recent studies, we make the case that coupling of experiments and simulations is pivotal tomitigate methodological shortcomings and address open problems pertaining to charged interfaces.

arXiv commentCurrent Opinion in Colloid & Interface Science (2018)

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Cited by in corpus (11)

• Liquid-solid slip on charged walls: dramatic impact of charge distribution
• Giant thermoelectric response of nanofluidic systems driven by water excess enthalpy
• Osmotic transport at the aqueous graphene and hBN interfaces: scaling laws from a unified, first principles description
• Complex coupling between surface charge and thermo-osmotic phenomena
• Macroscopic surface charges from microscopic simulations
• Slippery and mobile hydrophobic electrokinetics: from single walls to nanochannels
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• Enhanced zeta potentials caused by surface ion mobilities
• Surface Charge Relaxation Controls the Lifetime of Out-of-Equilibrium Colloidal Crystals
• Effects of salinity on flows of dense colloidal suspensions