Charged colloids at low ionic strength: macro- or microphase separation?

Abstract

Phase separation in charged systems may involve the replacement of critical points by microphase separated states, or charge-density-wave states. A density functional theory for highly charged colloids at low ionic strength is developed to examine this possibility. It is found that the lower critical solution point is most susceptible to microphase separation. Moreover the tendency can be quantified, and related to the importance of small ion entropy in suppressing phase separation at low added salt. The theory also gives insights into the colloid structure factor in these systems.