Abstract
Electrochemistry is an old science: There is good archaeological evidence that an electrolytic cell was used by the Parthans (250 B.C. to 250 A.D.), probably for electroplating (see Fig. 1.1), though a proper scientific investigation of electrochemical phenomena did not start before the experiments of Volta and Galvani [1,2]. The meaning and scope of electrochemical science has varied throughout the ages: For a long time it was little more than a special branch of thermodynamics; later attention turned to electrochemical kinetics. During recent decades, with the application of various surface-sensitive techniques to electrochemical systems, it has become a science of interfaces, and this, we think, is where its future lies. There are a large variety of interfaces of interest to electrochemists, and Fig. 1.2 shows several examples.
Keywords
- Dipole Potential
- Electrochemical Interface
- Electrochemical Phenomenon
- Solvation Sheath
- Excess Surface Charge
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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For the following reason: electrochemical experiments involve a change of the electrode potential, and hence charging or discharging the capacitor formed by the double layer. Since the double-layer capacity is large, and the resistance of the solution is not negligible, it has a long time constant associated with it, and the response at short times is dominated by this charging of the double layer.
References
A. Volta, Phil. Trans. II (1800) 405–431; Gilbert’s Ann. 112 (1800) 497.
A. Galvani, De Viribus Electricitatis in Motu Musculari Commentarius, ex Typ. Instituti Scientiarum Bononiae, 1791; see also: S. Trasatti, J. Electroanal. Chem. 197 (1986) 1.
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Schmickler, W., Santos, E. (2010). Introduction. In: Interfacial Electrochemistry. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-04937-8_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-04937-8_1
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