The interaction between silica flat substrate and functional group–modified nanoparticles

Abstract

Inspired by nature, the research of functionalized nanoparticles and nanodevices has been in‐depth developed in recent years. In this paper, we theoretically studied the interaction between functional polyelectrolyte brush layer–modified nanoparticles and a silica flat substrate. Based on the Poisson–Nernst–Planck equations, the mathematical model is established. The changes of the volume charge density and electric field energy density when the nanoparticle interacts with the silica flat substrate under multi‐ions regulation were investigated. The results show that when there is a strong interaction between the silica flat substrate and nanoparticles, such as the distances between the nanoparticle and silica flat substrate, which are 2 or 5 nm, the isoelectric point shift under the influence of silica flat substrate and the total charge density in the brush layer is jointly controlled by the cations in the solution and the volume charge density of the brush layer. With the increase of the distances between the nanoparticle and silica flat substrate, the regulation of the volume charge density of the brush layer dominates. These results will provide guidance for the movement mechanism of functionalized nanoparticles in silica nanochannels.