Entrapment of charged, nonwetting colloids near oil-water interfaces

Charged, nonwetting colloids with a contact angle theta=180 degrees are attracted to an oil-water interface due to image charge forces. Near the interface, the attractive image charge forces are balanced by repulsive van der Waals forces, and thus the colloids are trapped at a finite distance from the interface. Electrostatic and van der Waals pressure lead to a deformation of the interface in the equilibrium state. For parameters relevant to experiment, however, the effects of the deformed interface are negligible and thus the mutual interactions of such interfacially trapped colloids should be well characterized by electrostatic dipole repulsions.