Inversion of the electric field driven by ionic solvation energy

In previous studies, Monte Carlo simulations have suggested the possibility of inverting the electric field near a liquid/liquid interface due to excluded volume effects, ionic size asymmetry, and image charges at high electrolyte concentrations in the absence of ion transfer. In this work, we develop a mean field theory and coarse grained simulations to study the ion transfer between the two immiscible electrolytes in the presence of an electric field. Our calculations suggest a novel mechanism to invert the electric field near confined oil/water interfaces based on differences of the ionic solvation energy in both liquid media.