Poisson-Boltzmann theory of charged colloids: limits of the cell model for salty suspensions

Thermodynamic properties of charge-stabilized colloidal suspensions and polyelectrolyte solutions are commonly modelled by implementing the mean-field Poisson-Boltzmann (PB) theory within a cell model. This approach models a bulk system by a single macroion, together with counterions and salt ions, confined to a symmetrically shaped, electroneutral cell. While easing numerical solution of the nonlinear PB equation, the cell model neglects microion-induced interactions and correlations between macroions, precluding modelling of macroion ordering phenomena. An alternative approach, which avoids the artificial constraints of cell geometry, exploits the mapping of a macroion-microion mixture onto a one-component model of pseudo-macroions governed by effective interparticle interactions. In practice, effective-interaction models are usually based on linear-screening approximations, which can accurately describe strong nonlinear screening only by incorporating an effective (renormalized) macroion charge. Combining charge renormalization and linearized PB theories, in both the cell model and an effective-interaction (cell-free) model, we compute osmotic pressures of highly charged colloids and monovalent microions, in Donnan equilibrium with a salt reservoir, over a range of concentrations. By comparing predictions with primitive model simulation data for salt-free suspensions, and with predictions from nonlinear PB theory for salty suspensions, we chart the limits of both the cell model and linear-screening approximations in modelling bulk thermodynamic properties. Up to moderately strong electrostatic couplings, the cell model proves accurate for predicting osmotic pressures of deionized (counterion-dominated) suspensions. With increasing salt concentration, however, the relative contribution of macroion interactions to the osmotic pressure grows, leading predictions from the cell and effective-interaction models to deviate. No evidence is found for a liquid-vapour phase instability driven by monovalent microions. These results may guide applications of PB theory to colloidal suspensions and other soft materials.