Mean-field theory of active electrolytes: dynamic adsorption and overscreening

Abstract

We investigate active electrolytes within the mean-field level of description. The focus is on how the double-layer structure of passive, thermalized charges is affected by active dynamics of all constituting ions. One feature of active dynamics is that particles adhere to hard-surfaces, regardless of chemical properties of a surface and specifically in complete absence of any chemipsorption or physisorption. To carry out the mean-field analysis of the system that is out of equilibrium, we develop the "mean-field simulation" technique, where the simulated system consists of charged parallel sheets moving on a line and obeying active dynamics, with the interaction strength rescaled by the number of sheets. The mean-field limit becomes exact in the limit of an infinite number of movable sheets.