Charge Renormalization for Effective Interactions of Colloids at Water Interfaces

We analyze theoretically the electrostatic interaction of surface-charged colloids at water interfaces with special attention to the experimentally relevant case of large charge densities on the colloid-water interface. Whereas linear theory predicts an effective dipole potential, the strength of which is proportional to the square of the product of charge density and screening length, nonlinear charge renormalization effects change this dependence to a weakly logarithmic one. These results appear to be particularly relevant for structure formation at fluid interfaces with arbitrarily shaped colloids.