Dielectric properties of soft-particles in aqueous solutions

In this review, we present a summary of the recent theoretical approaches developed in the last few years examining the dielectric and conductometric properties of soft colloidal particles in aqueous solution. Whereas the electrokinetic properties, concerning the movement of soft particles (electrophoretic mobility), have been extensively investigated and rather sophisticated theoretical models have been developed, much less attention has been addressed to the electrical polarization mechanisms induced in these systems by an external electric field, even though the rich phenomenology they present and the chances they offer in the study of their structure and functionality deserve much more interest. We analyze the recent progress achieved in the dielectric and conductometric properties of this kind of colloidal particle aqueous suspensions in the light of the electrokinetic standard model and we discuss in some detail how the structure of the polymer layer might alter the dielectric response of the system, seen as a highly heterogeneous colloidal system. In particular, the limits and the benefits of the soft particle electrokinetic formalism in the understanding the electrostatic features of these systems will be illustrated.