Dielectric Properties of Aqueous Electrolytes at the Nanoscale
Despite the ubiquity of aqueous electrolytes, the effect of salt on water organization remains controversial. We introduce a nonlocal and nonlinear field theory for the nanoscale polarization of ions and water and derive the electrolyte dielectric response as a function of salt concentration to first order in a loop expansion. By comparison with molecular dynamics simulations, we show that rising salt concentration induces a dielectric permittivity decrement and Debye screening in the longitudinal susceptibility but leaves the water structure remarkably unchanged.
Authors
- Douwe Jan Bonthuis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1252-7745)
- Philip Loche (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9112-0010)
- Roland R. Netz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0147-0162)
- Maximilian Becker (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6460-1556)
- Hélène Berthoumieux (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3174-0189)
- D. Mouhanna (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8865-2051)
Institutions
- Sorbonne Université (FR)
- Graz University of Technology (AT)
- Laboratoire de Physique Théorique de la Matière Condensée (FR)
- Gulliver (FR)
- Laboratoire Médiations (FR)
- École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (CH)
- Freie Universität Berlin (DE)
- ESPCI Paris (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Physical Review Letters
- Published
- 2025-04-14
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.134.158001
- Citations
- 7
- Primary Topic
- Electrostatics and Colloid Interactions
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 12.27
Funders
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft