Suspensions of similarly charged particles dispersed in a liquid electrolyte are stabilized through an effect described by the Helmholtz double layer model. The model has two layers. The first layer is the charged surface of the particle, which creates an electrostatic field that affects the ions in the electrolyte. In response, the ions create a diffuse layer of equal and opposite charge, effectively rendering the surface charge neutral. However, the diffuse layer creates a potential surrounding the particle that differs from the bulk electrolyte.