Giant charge reversal observed for the first time
Thursday, July 13, 2017 - 10:12
in Physics & Chemistry
Charged surfaces submerged in electrolyte solutions can sometimes become oppositely charged. This nonintuitive phenomenon happens when excess counter ions adsorb to the surface. In certain situations, theory predicts a highly charged surface not only changes sign, but can become more highly charged than the original surface. This is known as giant charge reversal, but remains controversial and has never been observed experimentally.