Effects of the dielectric discontinuity on the counterion distribution in a colloidal suspension

We introduce a new method for simulating colloidal suspensions with spherical colloidal particles of dielectric constant different from the surrounding medium. The method uses an approximate calculation of the Green function to obtain the ion-ion interaction potential in the presence of a dielectric discontinuity at the surface of the colloidal particle. The method is very accurate and is orders of magnitude faster than the traditional approaches based on series expansions of the interaction potential. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3615940]