ABSTRACT
Most soft matter systems are complex mixtures in which several
species with widely different characteristic time and space scales
coexist. Typically, they consist of particles suspended in an aqueous
solvent wherein they acquire electric charge. This is due to high
dielectric permittivity of water favoring dissociation of surface
charge groups. Consequently, electrostatic interactions often play
a crucial role in many processes on the scales from nanometers
to micrometers. Here, we will not discuss the role of the solvent
granularity [Bocquet and Charlaix (2010)] but will focus on
approaches wherein the solvent is treated as a continuous dielectric
medium with a macroscopic permittivity . Mesoscopic colloidal
particles (≈ μm) are immersed into the solvent surrounded by the electrolyte consisting of counterions and dissociated salt ions (≈ 0.1 nm). The interactions among colloidal particles are mediated by the
microions and their correct description is challenging due to the
large asymmetry in the length and time scales.
