Two-component plasma in a gravitational field: Thermodynamics

We revisit the model of the two-component plasma in a gravitational field, which mimics charged colloidal suspensions. We concentrate on the computation of the grand potential of the system. Also, a special sum rule for this model is presented.Comment: 7 pages, LaTeX2

Electronic structure of the double perovskite Ba2Er(Nb,Sb)O 6

In this work, we present a detailed study of the structural and the electronic structure of the double perovskite Ba2Er(Nb,Sb)O 6. All calculations were performed with the Full-Potential Linear Augmented Plane Wave method (FP-LAPW) based on the Density Functional Theory (DFT). From the minimization of energy as a function of volume using the Murnaghan's state equation has been obtained the equilibrium lattice parameter and the bulk modulus of these compounds. The study of the electronic structure was based in the analysis of the electronic density of states (DOS), and the density of charge, showing that these compounds have a total magnetic moment of 3.0 μB per formula unit due to Er atoms.Fil: Gil Rebaza, Arles Víctor. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Física La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Física La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Deluque Toro, Crispulo Enrique. Universidad Popular del Cesar; ColombiaFil: Téllez Landínez, D. A. Universidad Nacional de Colombia; ColombiaFil: Roa Rojas, J.. Universidad Nacional de Colombia; Colombi

Onsager-Manning-Oosawa condensation phenomenon and the effect of salt

Making use of results pertaining to Painleve III type equations, we revisit the celebrated Onsager-Manning-Oosawa condensation phenomenon for charged stiff linear polymers, in the mean-field approximation with salt. We obtain analytically the associated critical line charge density, and show that it is severely affected by finite salt effects, whereas previous results focused on the no salt limit. In addition, we obtain explicit expressions for the condensate thickness and the electric potential. The case of asymmetric electrolytes is also briefly addressed.Comment: to appear in Phys. Rev. Let

Gas separation with mixed matrix membranes obtained from MOF UiO-66-graphite oxide hybrids

UiO-66-GO hybrids were obtained by hydrothermal synthesis of MOF UiO-66 (a Zr terephthalate) on graphite oxide (GO). These hybrids with appropriate texture and presence of nanosized MOF particles (in the ca. 30–100 nm range) have been used as fillers to prepare mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) with two different polymers, polysulfone (PSF) and polyimide (PI), as the matrixes, with contents varying between 0 and 32 wt%. The MMMs were applied to the separation of H2/CH4 and CO2/CH4 mixtures at different temperatures (35, 60 and 90 °C). Besides finding a good filler-polymer interaction, in the particular case of the hybrid filler, the barrier effect of the GO and the microporosity of the MOF dominated the separation properties of the MMMs. In all cases (different MMMs and separation mixtures) the effect of the temperature was to increase the permeability with a simultaneous decrease in the corresponding selectivity. In terms of permselectivity, the best H2/CH4 separation results were obtained (at 35 °C) with a PI based MMM containing only UiO-66 as filler (H2 permeability of 73 Barrer and H2/CH4 selectivity of 151), while a hybrid UiO-66-GO filler produced the best CO2/CH4 performance (CO2/CH4 selectivity value of 51 at 21 Barrer of CO2), also using a PI polymer

Non-linear screening of spherical and cylindrical colloids: the case of 1:2 and 2:1 electrolytes

From a multiple scale analysis, we find an analytic solution of spherical and cylindrical Poisson-Boltzmann theory for both a 1:2 (monovalent co-ions, divalent counter-ions) and a 2:1 (reversed situation) electrolyte. Our approach consists in an expansion in powers of rescaled curvature $1/(\kappa a)$, where $a$ is the colloidal radius and $1/\kappa$ the Debye length of the electrolytic solution. A systematic comparison with the full numerical solution of the problem shows that for cylinders and spheres, our results are accurate as soon as $\kappa a>1$. We also report an unusual overshooting effect where the colloidal effective charge is larger than the bare one.Comment: 9 pages, 11 figure

Screening of charged spheroidal colloidal particles

We study the effective screened electrostatic potential created by a spheroidal colloidal particle immersed in an electrolyte, within the mean field approximation, using Poisson--Botzmann equation in its linear and nonlinear forms, and also beyond the mean field by means of Monte Carlo computer simulation. The anisotropic shape of the particle has a strong effect on the screened potential, even at large distances (compared to the Debye length) from it. To quantify this anisotropy effect, we focus our study on the dependence of the potential on the position of the observation point with respect with the orientation of the spheroidal particle. For several different boundary conditions (constant potential, or constant surface charge) we find that, at large distance, the potential is higher in the direction of the large axis of the spheroidal particle

Guest charges in an electrolyte: renormalized charge, long- and short-distance behavior of the electric potential and density profile

We complement a recent exact study by L. Samaj on the properties of a guest charge $Q$ immersed in a two-dimensional electrolyte with charges $+1/-1$. In particular, we are interested in the behavior of the density profiles and electric potential created by the charge and the electrolyte, and in the determination of the renormalized charge which is obtained from the long-distance asymptotics of the electric potential. In Samaj's previous work, exact results for arbitrary coulombic coupling $\beta$ were obtained for a system where all the charges are points, provided $\beta Q<2$ and $\beta < 2$. Here, we first focus on the mean field situation which we believe describes correctly the limit $\beta\to 0$ but $\beta Q$ large. In this limit we can study the case when the guest charge is a hard disk and its charge is above the collapse value $\beta Q>2$. We compare our results for the renormalized charge with the exact predictions and we test on a solid ground some conjectures of the previous study. Our study shows that the exact formulas obtained by Samaj for the renormalized charge are not valid for $\beta Q>2$, contrary to a hypothesis put forward by Samaj. We also determine the short-distance asymptotics of the density profiles of the coions and counterions near the guest charge, for arbitrary coulombic coupling. We show that the coion density profile exhibit a change of behavior if the guest charge becomes large enough ($\beta Q\geq 2-\beta$). This is interpreted as a first step of the counterion condensation (for large coulombic coupling), the second step taking place at the usual Manning--Oosawa threshold $\beta Q=2$