title: Multiple-image treatment of induced charges in Monte Carlo simulations of electrolytes near a spherical dielectric interface.
abstract: The polarization-induced charges of a dielectric sphere are studied for charged colloidal systems in electrolyte solutions with a primitive model. The method of constructing multiple-image charges is used to approximate the polarization potential of a microion outside the sphere; it is based on a numerical discretization of the potential's analytical integral representation, and can systematically approximate the exact potential with desired accuracy by varyiation of the number of point images. Different aspects of the image effects are then investigated by Monte Carlo simulations for several colloidal systems, in both salt-free and salty environments. Furthermore, we studied the influence of discrete surface charges of different valences, and demonstrate that the polarization charges can significantly strengthen charge reversal for the colloid-microion complex, especially for multivalent interfacial ions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Zecheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gan
authors.forename: Zhenli
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D017097:Electric Impedance; D004573:Electrolytes / Q000737:chemistry*; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D004573:Electrolytes