‘Exact’ solutions of the full electrokinetic model for soft spherical colloids: Electrophoretic mobility

Numerical solutions of the standard electrokinetic model provide a basis for interpreting a variety of electrokinetic phenomena involving ‘bare’ colloids. However, the model rests on the classical notion of a shear or slipping plane, whose location is unknown when surfaces are coated with permeable polymer. Consequently, an electrokinetic model for ‘soft’, ‘hairy’ or ‘fuzzy’ colloids has been developed, but until recently solutions were available only for several restricted cases, most notably for particles with thin, uniform layers, and without polarization and relaxation. Here we present numerically exact solutions of the full model for a variety of soft colloids, including PEG-coated liposomes, PEO-coated latices, human erythrocytes, and polyelectrolyte micelles. Particular attention is given to linking the thickness, density and permeability of the coatings, which are key parameters in the model, to “physical” quantities, such as the polymer molecular weight, adsorbed amount, and hydrodynamic layer thickness. This paper also identifies limits – on the ionic strength, particle size, layer thickness and permeability – beyond which earlier theories breakdown. In short, polarization and relaxation are as influential on the mobility of soft colloids as they are for ‘bare’ particles.