Mean-field theory of active electrolytes: dynamic adsorption and overscreening

TL;DR

This paper develops a mean-field simulation approach to study how active ion dynamics alter the double-layer structure in electrolytes, revealing effects like dynamic adsorption and overscreening.

Contribution

It introduces a novel mean-field simulation method for active electrolytes, extending traditional models to include non-equilibrium active ion behavior.

Findings

Active dynamics cause ions to adhere to surfaces regardless of chemical properties.

The mean-field simulation becomes exact as the number of charged sheets approaches infinity.

Active ion behavior significantly modifies the double-layer structure and screening effects.

Abstract

We investigate active electrolytes within the mean-field level of description. The focus is on how the double-layer structure of passive, thermalized charges is affected by active dynamics of all constituting ions. One feature of active dynamics is that particles adhere to hard-surfaces, regardless of chemical properties of a surface and specifically in complete absence of any chemipsorption or physisorption. To carry out the mean-field analysis of the system that is out of equilibrium, we develop the "mean-field simulation" technique, where the simulated system consists of charged parallel sheets moving on a line and obeying active dynamics, with the interaction strength rescaled by the number of sheets. The mean-field limit becomes exact in the limit of an infinite number of movable sheets.