Charge inversion in colloidal systems

We investigate spherical macroions in the strong Coulomb coupling regime within the primitive model in salt-free environment. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are used to elucidate the effect of discrete macroion charge distribution on charge inversion. A systematic comparison is made with the charge inversion obtained in the conventional continuous charge distribution. Furthermore the effect of multivalent counterions is reported. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V All rights reserved.