Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 22, 2026

Merging Ion Concentration Polarization between Juxtaposed Ion Exchange Membranes to Block the Propagation of the Polarization Zone
Published on: February 23, 2017
Generalization of a classic thin double layer polarization theory of colloidal suspensions to electrolyte solutions
1Departamento de Fisica, Universidad Nacional de Tucuman, Av. Independencia 1800, (4000) San Miguel de Tucuman, Argentina.
Abstract:
The classic Dukhin-Shilov theory for the thin double layer polarization of colloidal suspensions in binary electrolyte solutions was developed for symmetric electrolytes: equal counterion and co-ion valences. A rigorous generalization of this theory to asymmetric electrolytes, such that the valence of counterions is double or half the valence of co-ions, is presented. This generalization is possible because analytical solutions of the intervening integrals exist for these two particular cases but do not exist in the general case of different counterion and co-ion valences, a result apparently overlooked or ignored in the past.
Related Concept Videos
Theory of Strong Electrolytes
The Electrical Double Layer
The Colloidal State
The Debye–Hückel Theory of Electrolyte Solutions
Ostwald’s Dilution Law
Colloidal precipitates

