contribution of the surface conductivity. This assumes a small Dukhin number: Restriction of the thin double layer limits applicability of this Smoluchowski type theory only to aqueous systems with sufficiently large particles and not very low ionic strength. This theory does not work well for nano-colloids, including proteins and polymers at low ionic strength. It is not valid for low- or non-polar fluids. There is another theory that is applicable for the other extreme case of a thick double layer, when This theory takes into consideration the double layer overlap that inevitably occurs for concentrated systems with thick double layer. This allows introduction of so-called "quasi-homogeneous" approach, when overlapped diffuse layers of particles cover the complete interparticle space. The theory becomes much simplified in this extreme case, as shown by Shilov and others. Their derivation predicts that surface charge density σ is a better parameter than ζ-potential for characterizing electroacoustic phenomena in such systems. An expression for CVI simplified for small particles follows: See also Interface and colloid science References Chemical mixtures Colloidal chemistry Condensed matter physics Matter Soft matter