Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 31, 2026

Electric-field Control of Electronic States in WS2 Nanodevices by Electrolyte Gating
Published on: April 12, 2018
Electrolyte stability in a nanochannel with charge regulation
Cédric Beaume1, Franck Plouraboué, Alain Bergeon
1Université de Toulouse, INP, and CNRS, IMFT (Institut de Mécanique des Fluides de Toulouse), Allée Camille Soula, F-31400 Toulouse, France. cedric.beaume@imft.fr
Abstract:
The stability of an electrolyte confined in one dimension between two solid surfaces is analyzed theoretically in the case where overlapping double layers produce nontrivial interactions. Within the Poisson-Boltzmann-Nernst-Planck description of the electrostatic interaction and transport of electrical charges, the presence of Stern layers can enrich the set of possible solutions. Our analytical and numerical study of the stability properties of the trivial state of this system identified an instability to a new antisymmetric state. This state is stable for a range of gap widths that depends on the Debye and Stern lengths, but for smaller gap widths, where the Stern layers overlap, a second transition takes place and the stable nontrivial solution diverges. The origin of this divergence is explained and its properties analyzed using asymptotic techniques which are in good agreement with numerical results. The relevance of our results to confined electrolytes at nanometer scales is discussed in the context of energy storage in nanometric systems.
Related Concept Videos
Electrochemical Systems
The Electrical Double Layer
Electrochemical Gradient and Channel Proteins: An Overview
The electrical gradient: The electrical gradient across cell membranes refers to the difference in electric charge between the inside and outside of a cell. This difference drives the movement of ions towards or away from the cells. For instance, if the inside of the cell is more negatively charged relative to the...
The Debye–Hückel Theory of Electrolyte Solutions
Theory of Strong Electrolytes
Controlled-Potential Coulometry: Electrolytic Methods
The chosen potential ensures...

