A field theoretical approach to the Debye-Huckel electrolyte differential capacitance in a slab
The effective Hamiltonian of our field theoretical model yields the linearized Debye-H¨uckel theory in the bulk. Here we consider it for a confined geometry of a slab. The differential capacitance is computed using two ways. The first relates it to the charge-charge correlation function by calcul...
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irk-123456789-1205342017-06-14T17:19:05Z A field theoretical approach to the Debye-Huckel electrolyte differential capacitance in a slab di Caprio, D. Stafiej, J. The effective Hamiltonian of our field theoretical model yields the linearized Debye-H¨uckel theory in the bulk. Here we consider it for a confined geometry of a slab. The differential capacitance is computed using two ways. The first relates it to the charge-charge correlation function by calculating the response to charging of the slab walls. The other relates it to the fluctuation of charge in one half of the slab. Since the model is exactly soluble in terms of the diagonal representation we can verify the fact that the two ways are consistent with each other and with the Gouy-Chapman differential capacitance in the limit of a thick slab. The interest of this derivation is to relate a measurable quantity to the structural information contained in the charge-charge correlation function. Ефективний гамільтоніан нашої теоретико-польової моделі дає лінеаризовану теорію Дебая-Гюкеля для об’ємних властивостей. Тут ми розглядаємо його для обмеженої геометрії пластини. Диференціальна ємність обчислюється двома способами. Перший пов’язує її з прямою кореляційною функцією заряд-заряд на основі обчислення відгуку до заряджання стінок пластини. Інші методи пов’язують її з флуктуацією заряду в одній половині пластини. Оскільки модель є точно розв’язувана в термінах діагонального представлення, ми можемо перевірити той факт, що два способи узгоджуються між собою і з виразом для диференційної ємності Гуї-Чепмена в границі тонкої пластини. Цінність цього висновку мусить пов’язувати вимірювальну величину зі структурною інформацією, яка міститься в кореляційній функції заряд-заряд. 2001 Article A field theoretical approach to the Debye-Huckel electrolyte differential capacitance in a slab / D. di Caprio, J. Stafiej // Condensed Matter Physics. — 2001. — Т. 4, № 4(28). — С. 715-726. — Бібліогр.: 12 назв. — англ. 1607-324X PACS: 61.20.Qg, 73.30.+y, 03.50.Kk DOI:10.5488/CMP.4.4.715 http://dspace.nbuv.gov.ua/handle/123456789/120534 en Condensed Matter Physics Інститут фізики конденсованих систем НАН України |
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English |
description |
The effective Hamiltonian of our field theoretical model yields the linearized
Debye-H¨uckel theory in the bulk. Here we consider it for a confined geometry
of a slab. The differential capacitance is computed using two ways.
The first relates it to the charge-charge correlation function by calculating
the response to charging of the slab walls. The other relates it to the fluctuation
of charge in one half of the slab. Since the model is exactly soluble
in terms of the diagonal representation we can verify the fact that the two
ways are consistent with each other and with the Gouy-Chapman differential
capacitance in the limit of a thick slab. The interest of this derivation is
to relate a measurable quantity to the structural information contained in
the charge-charge correlation function. |
format |
Article |
author |
di Caprio, D. Stafiej, J. |
spellingShingle |
di Caprio, D. Stafiej, J. A field theoretical approach to the Debye-Huckel electrolyte differential capacitance in a slab Condensed Matter Physics |
author_facet |
di Caprio, D. Stafiej, J. |
author_sort |
di Caprio, D. |
title |
A field theoretical approach to the Debye-Huckel electrolyte differential capacitance in a slab |
title_short |
A field theoretical approach to the Debye-Huckel electrolyte differential capacitance in a slab |
title_full |
A field theoretical approach to the Debye-Huckel electrolyte differential capacitance in a slab |
title_fullStr |
A field theoretical approach to the Debye-Huckel electrolyte differential capacitance in a slab |
title_full_unstemmed |
A field theoretical approach to the Debye-Huckel electrolyte differential capacitance in a slab |
title_sort |
field theoretical approach to the debye-huckel electrolyte differential capacitance in a slab |
publisher |
Інститут фізики конденсованих систем НАН України |
publishDate |
2001 |
url |
http://dspace.nbuv.gov.ua/handle/123456789/120534 |
citation_txt |
A field theoretical approach to the
Debye-Huckel electrolyte differential
capacitance in a slab / D. di Caprio, J. Stafiej // Condensed Matter Physics. — 2001. — Т. 4, № 4(28). — С. 715-726. — Бібліогр.: 12 назв. — англ. |
series |
Condensed Matter Physics |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT dicapriod afieldtheoreticalapproachtothedebyehuckelelectrolytedifferentialcapacitanceinaslab AT stafiejj afieldtheoreticalapproachtothedebyehuckelelectrolytedifferentialcapacitanceinaslab AT dicapriod fieldtheoreticalapproachtothedebyehuckelelectrolytedifferentialcapacitanceinaslab AT stafiejj fieldtheoreticalapproachtothedebyehuckelelectrolytedifferentialcapacitanceinaslab |
first_indexed |
2025-07-08T18:05:19Z |
last_indexed |
2025-07-08T18:05:19Z |
_version_ |
1837102979748986880 |
fulltext |
Condensed Matter Physics, 2001, Vol. 4, No. 4(28), pp. 715–726
A field theoretical approach to the
Debye-Hückel electrolyte differential
capacitance in a slab
D. di Caprio 1 , J.Stafiej 2
1 Laboratoire d’Électrochimie et Chimie Analytique, UMR 7575,
Université P. et M. Curie, Paris VI, Bât. F74, B.P. 39
4, Place Jussieu, 75230 Paris Cedex 05, France
2 Department of Electrode Processes,
Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences,
ul. Kasprzaka 44/52, 01–224 Warsaw, Poland
Received September 18, 2001
The effective Hamiltonian of our field theoretical model yields the linearized
Debye-Hückel theory in the bulk. Here we consider it for a confined geom-
etry of a slab. The differential capacitance is computed using two ways.
The first relates it to the charge-charge correlation function by calculating
the response to charging of the slab walls. The other relates it to the fluc-
tuation of charge in one half of the slab. Since the model is exactly soluble
in terms of the diagonal representation we can verify the fact that the two
ways are consistent with each other and with the Gouy-Chapman differen-
tial capacitance in the limit of a thick slab. The interest of this derivation is
to relate a measurable quantity to the structural information contained in
the charge-charge correlation function.
Key words: ionic solutions, confined systems, correlation functions,
Debye-Hückel electrolyte, statistical field theory, differential capacitance
PACS: 61.20.Qg, 73.30.+y, 03.50.Kk
1. Introduction
As this paper comes naturally out of our long work with Jean-Pierre Badiali we
are very pleased to dedicate it to him on the occasion of his 60th anniversary.
The structure and the properties of inhomogeneous electrolyte solutions are im-
portant for interfacial electrochemistry, colloid and membrane sciences and there-
fore biological systems. A simple example of such an inhomogeneous system that
we consider in our paper is an electrolyte solution bounded by two planar inter-
faces. Even if we focus on a single interface and consider a semi infinite system we
have to deal with a complicated problem. Electrolyte solutions are multicomponent
c© D. di Caprio, J.Stafiej 715
D. di Caprio, J.Stafiej
systems. They usually contain three species: two oppositely charged ions and the
solvent. The components interact with each other and with the other side of the
interface often reduced to a hard charged wall. These interactions can be both the
long range coulombic interaction and the short range specific interactions. As a re-
sult of the complexity of these systems, people have been for many decades deeply
attached to the simple physical description provided by the Gouy-Chapman theory.
The physical ground of the theory is clear. It is a Mayer-McMillan level mean field
theory based on the Poisson-Boltzmann equations for point like ions [1,2]. Also, it
is a theory of reference in that it gives exact results, for instance on the differential
capacitance for charged interfaces at a vanishing electric charge and at low ionic
concentrations.
In a recent series of papers [3,4] we have developed a field theoretical approach
to study ionic solutions. We start from a simple Hamiltonian written in terms of
fields describing the ionic distributions. The Hamiltonian includes the coulombic en-
ergy and the entropy. At the level of the quadratic approximation, this Hamiltonian
yields the Debye-Hückel theory in the bulk. In this framework, we have calculated
the charge-charge correlation function for a neutral interface [4]. We have shown
that already in this simple case these correlations are quite complex, simply as a
consequence of the presence of the hard bounding walls. In the case of charged inter-
faces, we have shown that this Hamiltonian gives in the mean field approximation
the linearized Gouy-Chapman theory.
In this paper, we use our field theoretical approach to present two ways of deriving
the differential capacitance for an ionic solution bounded by two hard plane walls.
First, we consider the linear response regime and then we are able to calculate the
response function to the charging of the walls from the knowledge of properties
calculated for the neutral system. The differential capacitance is calculated from the
charge-charge correlation function by means of the fluctuation dissipation theorem.
Second, we divide the neutral system in two symmetric half systems and we focus
on the charge fluctuations in any of the half systems. The aim of this paper is to
show how the structural information available from the field theoretical approach is
related to the differential capacitance which is a measurable quantity.
The paper is organized as follows. In section 2, we present the system and its
effective Hamiltonian. For our inhomogeneous system, we describe briefly how we
rewrite this Hamiltonian in a diagonal form to have a more tractable expression. The
details of the calculations are given in [4]. In section 3, we describe the charge-charge
correlation function in the neutral system at large wall separation. In section 4, we
derive the differential capacitance in the linear response theory from the charge-
charge correlation functions. We show that this result cannot be reduced to the
physics included in the bulk correlation functions and we present the alternative
derivation of the differential capacitance. Finally in section 5, we discuss what, in
our opinion, the originality of the field theoretical approach is and suggest some
guidelines for future investigations.
716
Electrolyte in a slab
2. The model
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ε εε
L
zL L
σ −σ
21
Figure 1. Schematic representation of
the model system.
We consider a 1–1 ionic solution
bounded by two hard walls at a distance
L from one another, as shown in fig-
ure 1. The walls have a surface area A
and we will take the limit A → ∞. The
distance L is finite and large in com-
parison with all other length scales in
the system, e.g. the Debye length scale
of the ionic solution or the average dis-
tance between ions. We consider a sys-
tem of volume AL, with a fixed num-
ber N+, N− of ions. In the thermody-
namic limit, the densities in the system
N+/(AL), N−/(AL)can be assimilated
with the density found in a region in
the middle of the system far from the
two walls which will be referred to as
the bulk. This defines a reference density ρb which is the bulk density of anions and
cations. The walls can be charged with a surface charge density σ. The dielectric
constant is uniform throughout the whole space and corresponds to the dielectric
constant of the pure solvent ε. The system is described in terms of fields ρ+(r), ρ−(r)
which represent the ionic densities of the cations and of the anions respectively. To
focus on the electrostatic effects, it is more convenient to introduce the equivalent
representation: q(r) = ρ+(r) − ρ−(r) and s(r) = ρ+(r) + ρ−(r) in terms of charge
density and overall ionic density. The Hamiltonian is a functional of the fields:
βH[q(r), s(r)] = βHent[q(r), s(r)] + βHCoul[q(r)], (1)
where
βHCoul[q(r)] =
K2
D
8πρb
∫
q(r)q(r′)
r̃
drdr′ + βe
∫
q(r)V ext(r)dr, (2)
r̃ = |r− r
′|, β = 1/kBT is the reciprocal temperature and KD = (βρbe
2/ε)1/2 is the
inverse Debye length. V ext(r) is the potential created by the charges σ and −σ on
the walls. This contribution is
V ext(r) = −σe
ε
(
z − L1 + L2
2
)
, (3)
where the zero for the electric potential corresponds to the middle of the system.
For the entropy Hent[q(r), s(r)] we take the functional used in [3,5]:
βHent[q(r), s(r)] =
∫
∑
i=±
[
ρi(r) ln
ρi(r)
ρ
− 1
]
dr (4)
717
D. di Caprio, J.Stafiej
and ρ is an arbitrary reference scale for the entropy. Expanding around the bulk
value of the charge density q = 0 and of the total density s = ρb and truncating to
the quadratic form [3], we have
βHent[q(r), s(r)] = βHent[0, ρb] +
∫
q2(r) + (s(r)− ρb)
2
2ρb
dr+ o(q2, (s− ρb)
2) . (5)
The functional integral over the fields yields the partition function
Z[q, s] =
∫
Dq(r)Ds(r) e−βH[q(r), s(r)]. (6)
In the quadratic approximation there is no coupling between the q and s fields, as we
focus on the excess properties related to the Coulomb interaction, we can formally
integrate over the s(r) degrees of freedom: Z[q] =
∫ Ds(r)Z[q, s]. The partition
function for the system is then Z =
∫ Dq(r)Z[q].
The interest of the bilinear model is that all the functional integrals can in
principle be performed explicitly. To calculate the partition function or any average
of a quantity in the system, we look for a diagonal representation of the Hamiltonian.
The details of the calculation are given elsewhere [4] and we just sketch the steps of
the calculation. First, we search for the eigenvectors of the operator potential
V (r) =
e
4πε
∫
dr′
q(r′)
|r− r′| (7)
in the geometry of a system bounded by plane walls. Using the translational in-
variance in the direction parallel to the walls, we have shown in [4] that a suitable
representation for the charge densities is
q(r) =
∑
K
eiKR
∑
µ=µ+,µ−
q̃µ(K)φµ(z), (8)
where the µ+, µ− verify respectively:
eiµ+L =
K − iµ+
K + iµ+
and eiµ−L = −K − iµ−
K + iµ−
, (9)
where L = L2 − L1, K = |K| and µ+ > 0 and µ− > 0. The equations above yield
the spectrum of µ+ and µ− which depend on the value of K. The eigenfunctions are
written:
φµ±
(z) = N±[e
−iµ±(L2−z) ∓ eiµ±(L1−z)], (10)
where N± = [2L(1 ∓ sin(µ±L)
µ±L
)]−1/2 is the normalization constant and where the
indices +,− refer to the type of eigenfunction. The eigenfunctions corresponding to
µ+ are odd while those corresponding to µ− are even with respect to the center at
z = (L1 +L2)/2. The coefficients q̃µ are complex valued. Changing the values of q̃µ,
we explore all possible charge density distributions. The electric potential is then
V (r) =
e
ε
∑
K
eiKR
∑
µ=µ+,µ−
λµq̃µ(K)φµ(z), (11)
718
Electrolyte in a slab
where
λµ =
1
K2 + µ2
(12)
are the eigenvalues of the coulombic potential operator. We finally obtain the diag-
onal representation of our Hamiltonian :
βH[q] =
A
2ρb
∑
K,µ>0
q̃µ(K)q̃∗µ(K)
[
1 +
K2
D
K2 + µ2
]
. (13)
3. Charge-charge correlation function for the neutral syst em
For neutral walls, we have obtained the charge-charge correlation functions [4]
for the semi infinite system. Here we can use these expressions considering L to be
large with respect to any length scale. The charge-charge correlation function has
two contributions: one dependent on z−z ′ is translationally invariant and yields the
bulk correlation function [3]:
gbqq (r, r
′) = 〈q(r)q(r′)〉b
= ρb
[
δ(r− r
′)− K2
D
4π
e−KDr̃
r̃
]
, (14)
where δ(r− r
′) is the Dirac function in space.
The term dependent on z+ z′ is a function of the distance to the wall. For r and
r
′ inside the slab, the charge-charge correlation function is given by
gsqq (r, r
′) = 〈q(r)q(r′)〉s
=
ρbe
−KDr̃1
2π
[
K2
D
2r̃1
+
KD
r̃21
− K2
Dz̃
2
1 − 1
r̃31
− 3
KDz̃
2
1
r̃41
− 3
z̃21
r̃51
]
+
ρb
2π
∫
K2dKJ0(K|R−R
′|)e−z̃1
√
K2+K2
D
+ same terms with z̃1 → z̃2 and r̃1 → r̃2, (15)
where z̃1 = L1−z+L1−z′ and z̃2 = L2−z+L2−z′ and J0 is a Bessel function [6]. r̃1
is the distance between the point r and the image r
′
1 of the point r′ symmetrically
with respect to the wall situated at L1, and r̃2 the same with respect to the other
wall in L2. The charge-charge correlations close to the interfaces thus have a complex
behaviour even for neutral interfaces. The first contribution in brackets is screened
over the Debye length and behaves like an interaction with an image charge, although
there is no image potential at the dividing wall itself. The last integral is discussed
in [4] and has a peculiar long ranged R−3 behaviour which has first been discussed
by B.Jancovici [7].
719
D. di Caprio, J.Stafiej
4. Differential capacitance from the fluctuation dissipati on
theorem
To calculate the capacitance of the system we consider the linear response theory
for the Hamiltonian for a small charge density σ. The Hamiltonian can be rewritten
H = H(σ = 0) +Hσ , (16)
Hσ = e
∫
q(r)V ext(r)dr. (17)
The term proportional to σ in the Hamiltonian is taken as a perturbation and all
averages are then computed for σ = 0. At the linear response approximation, the
average of a quantity Q is then
〈Q〉σ = 〈Q (1− βHσ)〉0 , (18)
where 〈...〉σ and 〈...〉0 denote respectively averages taken with the full Hamiltonian
and the Hamiltonian for zero charge on the walls. From the translational invariance
in the direction parallel to the walls, the electric potential is independent of the
position of the point we choose inside a plane parallel to the walls and depends only
on the variable z. The potential difference between the two walls can then be written
in the following way:
V (L2)− V (L1) =
〈(
V ext(r) +
e
4πε
∫
q(r′)
|r− r′|dr
′
)
×
(
1− βe
∫
q(r′′)V ext(r′′)dr′′
)
〉
0,z=L2
−
〈
...
〉
0,z=L1
= δV ext +
e
4πε
[
〈
∫ q(r′)
|r− r′|dr
′
〉
0,z=L2
−
〈
...
〉
0,z=L1
]
− βe2
4πε
[
〈
∫
q(r′)
|r− r′|dr
′
∫
q(r′′)V ext(r′′)dr′′
〉
0,z=L2
−
〈
...
〉
0,z=L1
]
− βe
[
〈
V ext(L2)
∫
q(r′′)V ext(r′′)dr′′
〉
0,z=L2
−
〈
...
〉
0,z=L1
]
, (19)
where for each quantity its difference for z = L2 and z = L1 is taken. The first
term is δV ext = V ext(z = L2)− V ext(z = L1) = −σeL/ε the potential difference due
to the electric charges on the wall. The second term is the average of the Coulomb
potential created by the charges in the ionic solution but taken for neutral walls. In
this case, the electric potential is constant throughout the system and this difference
is zero [3]. The last term is proportional to σ2 and can be neglected in the linear
response regime.
We then have to compute:
δṼ ≡ V (L2)− V (L1)− δV ext (20)
= −βe2
4πε
[
〈
∫ q(r′)
|r− r′|dr
′
∫
q(r′′)V ext(r′′)dr′′
〉
0
∣
∣
∣
∣
∣
z=L2
−
〈
...
〉
0
∣
∣
∣
∣
∣
z=L1
]
, (21)
720
Electrolyte in a slab
where terms of the order σ2 are neglected. In our representation we have
∫
q(r)V ext(r)dr = −σeA
ε
∫ L2
L1
dz′z′
∑
µ=µ±,K=0
q̃µ±
φµ±
(z′) (22)
= −4σeA
ε
∑
µ=µ+,K=0
N+
q̃µ
µ2
, (23)
where φµ±
(z′) has been replaced by its expression from equation (10) and the ex-
ternal potential V ext depending on z uniquely selects K = 0 wave vector when
integrating over the direction parallel to the walls. In this case e iµ±L = ∓1. Also,
only the µ+ eigenvalues give a non-vanishing contribution to the sum.
From the expression of the electric potential in our representation we deduce
∫
q(r′)
|r− r′|dr
′
∣
∣
∣
∣
∣
z
= 4π
∑
µ=µ±
q̃µ
φµ(z)
µ2 +K2
. (24)
The average over q̃µ is performed with the Hamiltonian given in equation (13). It is
diagonal in this representation and therefore we select the K = 0 and µ = µ+ vector
also for this term. Thus we have the difference
∫ q(r′)
|r− r′|dr
′
∣
∣
∣
∣
∣
L2
−
∫ q(r′)
|r− r′|dr
′
∣
∣
∣
∣
∣
L1
= 4π
∑
µ+,K=0
q̃µ+
4N+
µ2
+
, (25)
where we have used that for K = 0, φµ+
(L2)−φµ+
(L1) = 4N+. Finally the potential
difference is
δṼ =
βe3σA
ε2
∑
µ+,K=0
16N 2
+
µ4
+
〈q̃µ+
q̃∗µ+
〉0 . (26)
From the Hamiltonian we see that the average 〈q̃µ+
q̃∗µ+
〉0 = ρbµ
2
+/[A(µ
2
+ + K2
D)];
thus,
δṼ =
8σe
εL
∑
µ+,K=0
[
1
µ2
+
− 1
µ2
+ +K2
D
]
. (27)
The calculation of the sums over µ+ is presented in the appendix
∑
µ+,K=0
1
µ2
+
=
L2
8
and
∑
µ+,K=0
1
µ2
+ +K2
D
=
L
4KD
[
1− e−KDL
]
. (28)
Finally, we have
V (L2)− V (L1) = δV ext +
σeL
ε
− 2σe
εKD
[
1− e−KDL
]
(29)
= − 2σe
εKD
[
1− e−KDL
]
. (30)
We then obtain the capacitance deriving V (L2) − V (L1) with respect to −σe (the
minus is due to the conventions chosen in figure 1). We find that the first sum in
721
D. di Caprio, J.Stafiej
equation (27) compensates the external potential δV ext. The differential capacitance
per unit of surface area at the point of zero charge is obtained
C−1 =
Ṽ (L2)− Ṽ (L1)
−σe
(31)
=
2
εKD
[
1− e−KDL
]
(32)
which in the large L limit corresponds to the differential capacitance obtained in
the linearized Gouy-Chapman theory.
We believe that the interest in deriving a well known result in a different way
resides in trying to give it a new interpretation. The differential capacitance has
been obtained from the theorem of fluctuation dissipation, let us rewrite equation
(19) so that the charge-charge correlation function appears explicitly
δṼ = − βe2
4πεA
[
∫ 〈q(r′)q(r′′)〉0
|r− r′|
∣
∣
∣
∣
∣
z=L2
V ext(r′′)dr′′dr′dR
− same term for z = L1
]
. (33)
Note that due to the translational invariance parallel to the wall, the integration over
R amounts to introducing the surface A as a factor. As for the neutral system, the
charge profile is zero and the ionic profiles are uniform, one might suppose that the
Debye Hückel bulk correlation function is sufficient to calculate the linear response
function. If we replaced 〈q(r′)q(r)〉0 by the charge-charge correlation function given
in equation (14), we would have
δṼ = − βe2
4πεA
∫
ρb
[
δ(r′ − r
′′)− K2
D
4π
e−KD|r′−r
′′|
r′ − r′′
]
(
−σe
ε
) [
z′′ −
(
L1 + L2
2
)]
× 4π
[
z′ −
(
L1 + L2
2
)]
dr′dr′′. (34)
We have used the fact that the integral over R is the same as the integral expressing
the electric potential created by a charged plane z = L2 at the point r′. Performing
all the integrations we find
δṼ = − 2σe
εKD
+ 2
(
KDL
2
)2 σe
εKD
. (35)
The differential capacity is then
C−1 =
2e
εKD
− 2
(
KDL
2
)2 1
εKD
+
L
ε
. (36)
We readily see that this is not the correct result. In particular, there is a macroscopic
term in L2 which is not compensated and there is no linear term which should cancel
the external electric potential created by the charges on the wall. This shows that
722
Electrolyte in a slab
the proper form of the charge-charge correlation is required to obtain the correct
differential capacitance.
We have seen that only the odd modes contribute to the differential capacitance
given in equation (32). For the system in an odd mode there is a non-vanishing
charge in the half space z < (L1 + L2)/2 compensated by the charge in the other
half space. This suggests that charge transfer between the two halves of the system
is important. The charge in one half of the system is
Q =
∫
L1+L2
2
L1
q(r)dr = −
∫ L2
L1+L2
2
q(r)dr. (37)
The fluctuation of the charge of a system in contact with a reservoir is related with
its differential capacitance C̃ [10]
〈Q2〉 = AC̃kBT. (38)
If we can treat the other half of the system as a charge reservoir we can calculate
〈Q2〉 using the diagonal representation.
〈Q2〉 = ρbe
2A
∑
µ>0
µ2
µ2 +K2
D
∣
∣
∣
∣
∣
∫
L1+L2
2
L1
φµ(z)dz
∣
∣
∣
∣
∣
2
= AkBTεKD(1− e−KDL). (39)
As before, this sum contains the contribution from the odd modes only. In the large
L limit we retrieve the linearized Gouy-Chapman differential capacitance. For finite
L we can note that the differential capacitance in equation (32) and equation (39)
is not the same. In particular for L → 0 the limits are completely different showing
that the other half system cannot be treated as a charge reservoir in this limit.
5. Conclusions
In this paper we have reobtained a well established quantity – the Gouy-Chap-
man differential capacity, which is an important measurable characteristic of the
inhomogeneous electrolyte system. We use a field theoretical framework for han-
dling the problem of the long range Coulomb interactions. In this framework the
ionic densities play the role of the fields. The interest of this is that the fields have
got a clear physical interpretation. The charge-charge correlations appear naturally
with such a choice of the fields in our formalism. We can relate them to the differ-
ential capacitance. Our field theoretical effective Hamiltonian provides a description
equivalent to the linearized Debye-Hückel theory in the bulk solution, which is ex-
act in the low density limit [3]. As we have seen, this Hamiltonian gives a tractable
model for the slab geometry. Due to this we have been able to verify the validity
of some assumptions. Even in the limit of vanishing charge on the walls, the bulk
correlation function is not sufficient to approximate the inhomogeneous correlation
function. Only in the limit of a thick slab the differential capacitance calculated from
723
D. di Caprio, J.Stafiej
the response to an external charge is consistent with the capacitance calculated from
the charge fluctuation in the half system. Otherwise we see the effect of the finite
size on the calculated differential capacitance which makes the difference between
the two results. This sheds some light on the problem of the choice of the electric
variable to describe the interfacial systems discussed in electrochemistry [11].
Here we have focused on the simplest and the best understood case of the lin-
earized Debye Hückel electrolyte model. In the future we intend to go beyond the
linear model described by the bilinear Hamiltonian and/or introduce specific in-
teractions. A great simplification comes from the fact that these interactions are
introduced in the spirit of the field theory and not at the molecular level.
Acknowledgements
We gratefully acknowledge the joined financial support by the National Commit-
tee for Scientific Research (KBN) of Poland and the Ministry of Research in France,
within the agreement Polonium project N◦ 01589ZE.
Appendix
We calculate the sums
∑
f+(µ)=0,µ>0 1/µ
2 and
∑
f+(µ)=0,µ>0 1/(µ
2 + K2
D) where
f+(µ) = eiµL + 1, which corresponds to µ+ = π/L+ n[2π/L] where n is an integer.
The first sum is simply [9]
∑
f+(µ)=0,µ>0
1
µ2
=
L2
π2
∞
∑
n=0
1
(2n+ 1)2
(40)
=
L2
8
. (41)
For the second sum, we use the following identity
∑
f+(µ)=0
φ(µ) =
1
2πi
∮
C
f ′
+(µ)
f+(µ)
φ(µ)dµ (42)
where the
′
denotes the derivative with respect to µ and where φ(µ) is an analytic
function inside the contour integral C and extend over all values of µ positive and
negative. In our case
f ′
+(µ)
f+(µ)
=
iLeiµL
eiµL + 1
and φ(µ) =
1
µ2 +K2
D
. (43)
The contour C, shown in figure 2, is chosen in order to include all the zeros of f(µ)
which are on the real axis, in the limit δ1 → ∞ and δ2 → 0. It is possible to check
that the portion of the contour parallel to the imaginary axis gives a vanishing
contribution with δ2. The other two contributions to the contour denoted I1 and I2
can be computed using two other contours shown in figure 3, these contours are also
724
Electrolyte in a slab
Figure 2. Contour in the complex
plane used to calculate the sums in the
Appendix. The poles µ+ are indicated
by the crosses on the real axis.
Figure 3. Contour in the complex
plane used to calculate the intermedi-
ate integrals I1 and I2 in the Appendix.
considered in the limit δ1 → ∞. The arc of circles does not contribute to the integral
in this limit, the integrals I1 and I2 are then residue of the poles respectively iKD
and −iKD and we obtain:
I1 =
−Le−KDL
2KD
(44)
and
I2 =
L
2KD
(45)
thus, the sum we want to calculate is
∑
f+(µ)=0,µ>0
1
µ2 +K2
D
=
L
4KD
[1− e−KDL]. (46)
Note that the contribution I1 is negligible compared with I2, since L is much larger
than K−1
D .
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Теоретико-польовий підхід до диференційної
ємності електроліта Дебая-Гюкеля в пластині
Д. ді Капріо 1 , Я.Стафє 2
1 Лабораторія електрохімії та аналітичної хімії, УМР 7575,
Університет П. і М.Кюрі, 75230 Париж, Франція
2 Інститут фізичної хімії Академії наук Польщі, Варшава, Польща
Отримано 18 вересня 2001 р.
Ефективний гамільтоніан нашої теоретико-польової моделі дає лі-
неаризовану теорію Дебая-Гюкеля для об’ємних властивостей. Тут
ми розглядаємо його для обмеженої геометрії пластини. Диферен-
ціальна ємність обчислюється двома способами. Перший пов’язує її
з прямою кореляційною функцією заряд-заряд на основі обчислен-
ня відгуку до заряджання стінок пластини. Інші методи пов’язують її
з флуктуацією заряду в одній половині пластини. Оскільки модель є
точно розв’язувана в термінах діагонального представлення, ми мо-
жемо перевірити той факт, що два способи узгоджуються між собою
і з виразом для диференційної ємності Гуї-Чепмена в границі тонкої
пластини. Цінність цього висновку мусить пов’язувати вимірювальну
величину зі структурною інформацією, яка міститься в кореляційній
функції заряд-заряд.
Ключові слова: іонні розчини, обмежені системи, кореляційні
функції, електроліт Дебая-Гюкеля, статистико-польова теорія,
диференційна ємність
PACS: 61.20.Qg, 73.30.+y, 03.50.Kk
726
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