On the similarity between the electrophoresis of a liquid drop and a spherical hydrophobic particle

This article deals with the electrophoresis of a charged spherical liquid drop and a charged hydrophobic sphere under a weak electric field and low surface potential assumption. The main aim of this study is to establish an equivalence between the two cases. An expression for the mobility of a hydrophobic particle is derived based on the model for electrophoresis of a charged non-conducting liquid drop (Ohshima et al., J Chem Soc Faraday Trans 2, 80, 1643-1667, 1984). The derived expression for mobility of a charged hydrophobic particle reduces to the Henry mobility when slip length approaches zero. This expression is also validated by comparing with the existing thin layer analysis as well as mobility in a medium of approximately zero charge density.