Sedimentation potential occurs due to dispersed particles motion relative to the fluid under influence of either gravity or centrifugation

Centrifugation

Centrifugation is a process that involves the use of the centrifugal force for the sedimentation of mixtures with a centrifuge, used in industry and in laboratory settings. More-dense components of the mixture migrate away from the axis of the centrifuge, while less-dense components of the mixture...

. This motion disrupts equilibrium symmetry of the particles double layer

Double layer

Double layer may refer to:* Double layer , a structure in a plasma and consists of two parallel layers with opposite electrical charge* Double layer , a structure that appears on the surface of an object when it is placed into a liquid...

. Enveloping viscous flow around the particles drags ions of the diffuse layer away from the particles. This causes slight displacement between surface charge

Surface charge

Surface charge is the electric charge present at an interface. There are many different processes which can lead to a surface being charged, including adsorption of ions, protonation/deprotonation, and the application of an external electric field...

 and electric charge

Electric charge

Electric charge is a physical property of matter that causes it to experience a force when near other electrically charged matter. Electric charge comes in two types, called positive and negative. Two positively charged substances, or objects, experience a mutual repulsive force, as do two...

 of the diffuse layer. Particle gains dipole moment

Polarity

In physics, polarity is a description of an attribute, typically a binary attribute , or a vector . For example:* An electric charge has a polarity of either positive or negative....

. These dipole moments generate electric field that is called sedimentation potential. It can be measured for electric open circuit

Open circuit

The term Open circuit may refer to:*Open-circuit scuba, a type of SCUBA-diving equipment where the user breathes from the set and then exhales to the surroundings without recycling the exhaled air...

.

There is also notion of sedimentation current. It is electric current

Electric current

Electric current is a flow of electric charge through a medium.This charge is typically carried by moving electrons in a conductor such as wire...

 generated by sedimentation potential for electric short circuit

Short circuit

A short circuit in an electrical circuit that allows a current to travel along an unintended path, often where essentially no electrical impedance is encountered....

There is detailed descriptions of this effect in many books on Colloid and Interface Science,,,,,.