  We have directly observed reversal of the polarity of charged surfaces in
water upon the addition of tri- and quadrivalent ions using atomic force
microscopy. The bulk concentration of multivalent ions at which charge
inversion reversibly occurs depends only very weakly on the chemical
composition, surface structure, size and lipophilicity of the ions, but is
dominated by their valence. These results support the theoretical proposal that
spatial correlations between ions are the driving mechanism behind charge
inversion.
