Corrected Debye-Hückel analysis of surface complexation. II. A theory of surface charging.

A theory of surface charging of colloidal particles suspended in an electrolyte solution is presented. The charging at the particle surface is assumed to originate from the adsorption and desorption of protons and is therefore strongly dependent on the acidity of the solution. The surface binding of protons occurs locally at sites of occupancy zero or one that are described by a binding energy u(0) and a three-dimensional vibration of frequency nu.