Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry

, Volume 14, Issue 5, pp 705–739 | Cite as

The theory of electron transfer

Review Paper
First Online:
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:

Abstract

This article provides an overview of the theory of electron transfer. Emphasis is placed on the history of key ideas and on the definition of difficult terms. Among the topics considered are the quantum formulation of electron transfer, the role of thermal fluctuations, the structures of transition states, and the physical models of rate constants. The special case of electron transfer from a metal electrode to a molecule in solution is described in detail.

Keywords

Electron transfer reactions Quantum theory Perturbation theory Marcus theory Rate constants Fluctuations Transition states Reorganization energy Inverted region Tafel slopes 
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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag 2010

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of ChemistryLoughborough UniversityLoughboroughUK

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