Surface Protolysis and Its Kinetics Impact the Electrical Double Layer

MF Dopke and FW van der Meij and B Coasne and R Hartkamp, PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 128, 056001 (2022).

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.056001

Surface conductivity in the electrical double layer (EDL) is known to be affected by proton hopping and diffusion at solid-liquid interfaces. Yet, the role of surface protolysis and its kinetics on the thermodynamic and transport properties of the EDL are usually ignored as physical models consider static surfaces. Here, using a novel molecular dynamics method mimicking surface protolysis, we unveil the impact of such chemical events on the system's response. Protolysis is found to strongly affect the EDL and electrokinetic aspects with major changes in zeta potential and electro-osmotic flow.

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