The impact of steric repulsion on the capacitance and total free energy of electrochemical systems

Abstract: We present a modified Poisson-Boltzmann model that adds steric repulsion of ions, providing an approximation to ion-ion correlations. Controlled by specific ion sizes, this steric contribution provides a concentration cap. Importantly, the steric contribution to the total free energy is comparable in size to the electrostatic contribution and exceeds the classical energy $1/2CV^2$. Capacitance varies non-monotonically with voltage, with a maximum near 0.2-0.3V depending on the ion size. An analytic expression for the total free energy is derived in terms of the size of the counterion, surface potential, and charge density at each electrode.