Fermi-like description of the adsorption phenomenon

A Fermi-like description for the adsorption of particles at a surface is pr oposed. It is shown that this theory accounts, in a natural way, for the sa turation phenomenon found in real samples. Furthermore, it is shown also th at this approach removes some limitations of the classical one, based on a Maxwell-Boltzmann description. As an application, we consider the sready-st ate distribution of ionic impurities in a sample of an isotropic fluid, who se limiting surfaces are supposed to adsorb positive charged particles. The fundamental equations of the problem are numerically solved, thus permitti ng the determination of the electrical potential distribution in the sample , and the full thickness dependence of the surface density of adsorbed char ges. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.