A variational field theory for solutions of charged, rigid particles

Lue, L. (2006) A variational field theory for solutions of charged, rigid particles. Fluid Phase Equilibria, 241 (1-2). pp. 236-247. ISSN 0378-3812 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fluid.2005.11.007)

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Abstract

A general field theoretic formalism is developed for dealing with solutions of particles with rigid charge distributions. Combined with the mean-field approximation, the resulting theory extends the Poisson-Boltzmann equation to incorporate the presence of structured ions (e.g., uniformly charged rods or disks). When combined with a first-order variational approximation, the resulting theory, in the low density limit, is a generalization of the Debye-Huckel theory to extended charge distributions and reduces to the standard expressions when applied to point charges. A first-order variational theory is applied to solutions of uniformly charged disks and to solutions of uniformly charged disks with a neutralizing ring charge to examine the influence of electrostatic interactions on the isotropic-nematic transition.