Electroviscous sphere-wall interactions

A theoretical analysis is presented to determine the forces of interaction between an electrically charged spherical particle and a charged plane wall when the particle translates parallel to the wall and rotates around its axis in a symmetric electrolyte solution at rest. The electroviscous effects, arising from the coupling between the electrical and hydrodynamic equations, are determined as a solution of three partial differential equations, derived from Cox's general theory [R.G. Cox, J. Fluid Mech. 338 (1997) 1], for electroviscous ion concentration, electroviscous potential and electroviscous flow field. It is a priori assumed that the double layer thickness surrounding each charged surfaces is much smaller than the particle size. Using the matched asymptotic expansion technique, the electroviscous forces experienced by the sphere are explicitly determined analytically for small particle-wall distances, but low and intermediate Peclet numbers. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.