Size dependent surface charging of nanoparticles

International audience; Experimental interest in the possible curvature dependence of particle charging in electrolyte solutions is subjected to theoretical analysis. The corrected Debye−Hückel theory of surface complexation (CDH-SC) and Monte Carlo (MC) simulation are applied to investigate the dependence of surface charging of metal oxide nanoparticles on their size. Surface charge density versus pH curves for spherical metal oxide nanoparticles in the size range of 1−100 nm are calculated at various concentrations of a background electrolyte. The surface charge density of a nanoparticle is found to be highly size-dependent. As the particle diameter drops to below 10 nm there is considera…