DIELECTRIC ENHANCEMENT AND ELECTROPHORESIS DUE TO DOUBLE LAYER.

Abstract

A charged particle, such as a clay particle, immersed in an electrolytic solution acquires a charge cloud, known as the electrochemical double layer. Polarization of the double layer in an external electric field has been invoked as the mechanism responsible for anomalously large (approximately 1000) values of low frequency dielectric constant in rocks containing clay particles, as well as in other colloidal and biological systems. In this paper authors summarized the theoretical results obtained on the contribution of interfacial effects to the dielectric constant and electrophoresis of charged spherical particles suspended in an electrolyte. Results have the largest range of validity: They incorporate the effect of electric field induced solvent flow, and are valid for large values of the surface (zeta) potential.