Double-layer force suppression between charged microspheres

D. S. Ether, F. S. S. Rosa, D. M. Tibaduiza, L. B. Pires, R. S. Decca, and P. A. Maia Neto
Phys. Rev. E 97, 022611 – Published 14 February 2018

Abstract

In this paper we propose a protocol to suppress double-layer forces between two microspheres immersed in a dielectric medium, being one microsphere metallic at a controlled potential ψM and the other a charged one either metallic or dielectric. The approach is valid for a wide range of distances between them. We show that, for a given distance between the two microspheres, the double-layer force can be totally suppressed by simply tuning ψM up to values dictated by the linearized Poisson-Boltzmann equation. Our key finding is that such values can be substantially different from the ones predicted by the commonly used proximity force approximation, also known as the Derjaguin approximation, even in situations where the latter is expected to be accurate. The proposed procedure can be used to suppress the double-layer interaction in force spectroscopy experiments, thus paving the way for measurements of other surface interactions, such as Casimir dispersion forces.

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  • Received 6 December 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.97.022611

©2018 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Polymers & Soft Matter

Authors & Affiliations

D. S. Ether1,2,*, F. S. S. Rosa1, D. M. Tibaduiza1, L. B. Pires1,2, R. S. Decca3, and P. A. Maia Neto1,2

  • 1Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Caixa Postal 68528, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21941-972, Brazil
  • 2Laboratório de Pinças Óticas - LPO-COPEA, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21941-902, Brazil
  • 3Department of Physics, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Indiana 46202, USA

  • *ether@if.ufrj.br; http://sites.if.ufrj.br/lpo/en/

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Vol. 97, Iss. 2 — February 2018

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