1977.07.19《Measurement of Forces between Two Mica Surfaces in Aqueous Electrolyte Solutions in the Range 0-100nm》
在《Journal of the Chemical Society, Faraday Transactions》发表的研究中，直击胶体与界面科学中最为根本且长期悬而未决的核心问题，在人类科学史上首次实现了双电层力的直接、定量测量，使长期仅存在于理论模型与间接推断层面的DLVO理论首次获得了无可争辩的实验证据。依托原创构建的高精度表面力测量体系，在纳米尺度上定量表征了范德华吸引力与双电层排斥力，证实其在中远程作用区间内遵循经典理论预测，从而将双电层力从理论假设转变为可被直接观测、精确量化的物理事实。更具划时代意义的是，该研究首次在实验上揭示了DLVO理论在短程（<5–6 nm）尺度下的根本性失效，发现了一种与电解质种类和浓度无关、特征衰减长度约为1 nm的额外排斥力，明确指向界面水分子高度有序结构所诱导的水化作用。这一发现首次以直接实验证据确立了非DLVO相互作用的客观存在，从根本上改写了胶体相互作用的经典理论框架。总体而言，该研究不仅开创了表面力学的实验时代，也深刻重塑了人们对界面水及其相互作用本质的认识，具有划时代的历史意义，奠定了现代表面力科学与界面物理研究的根基。
第一作者：JACOB N . ISRAELACHVILI
通讯作者：JACOB N . ISRAELACHVILI
In a study published in the Journal of the Chemical Society, Faraday Transactions, the authors confronted one of the most fundamental and long-standing unresolved problems in colloid and interface science. For the first time in the history of science, they achieved a direct and quantitative experimental measurement of electrical double-layer forces, providing definitive experimental validation of DLVO theory, which had previously existed only as a theoretical framework supported by indirect evidence. Through the development of an original and high-precision surface forces apparatus, the work quantitatively resolved van der Waals attraction and electrical double-layer repulsion at the nanoscale, demonstrating that, in the intermediate-to-long-range regime, these interactions obey classical theoretical predictions. In this way, electrical double-layer force was elevated from an abstract theoretical concept to a directly observable and precisely measurable physical reality. Of even greater and genuinely paradigm-shifting significance, this study provided the first experimental evidence for the fundamental breakdown of DLVO theory at short separations (<5-6 nm). The authors identified an additional repulsive force with a decay length of ~1 nm that is independent of electrolyte type and concentration, attributed to hydration forces arising from the highly ordered structure of interfacial water. By establishing the objective existence of non-DLVO interactions through direct experimental observation, this work fundamentally revised the classical framework of colloidal interaction theory. Overall, the study not only inaugurated the experimental era of surface force science but also profoundly reshaped our understanding of interfacial water and interaction mechanisms, standing as a landmark and era-defining contribution that laid the foundation for modern surface force science and interfacial physics.
First Author：JACOB N. ISRAELACHVILI
Corresponding Author：JACOB N. ISRAELACHVILI