Electroosmotic velocity in an array of parallel soft cylinders in a salt-free medium.

A theory of electroosmosis in an array of parallel soft cylinders (i.e. polyelectrolyte-coated cylinders) in a salt-free medium is presented. It is shown that there is a certain critical value of the particle charge and that if the particle charge is greater than the critical value, then the electroosmotic velocity becomes constant independent of the particle charge due to the counterion condensation effects, as in the case of other electrokinetic phenomena in salt-free media.