Equilibrium electrode potential exchange current density

If the areas of the electrodes are assumed to be 1 cm, and taking the equilibrium exchange current density /g for the Ag /Ag equilibrium to be 10 A cm", then /g will be 10 A, which is a very high rate of charge transfer. A similar situation will prevail at electrode II, and rates of exchange of silver ions and the potential will be the same as for electrode I. 

Equilibrium Potential ( o) the electrode potential of an unpolarised electrode at equilibrium. At the equilibrium potential there is no net reaction. The potential is controlled by the same electrode reaction occurring anodically and cathodically at an equal rate, called the exchange current density. 

The potential of the electrode surface is determined by the Nernst equation introduced in Sec. 1.3.3. In an equilibrium, the currents in anodic and cathodic directions are equal. If they are related to an electrode area, they are called exchange-current densities, j0 ... 

The values of exchange current density observed for different electrodes (or reactions) vary within wide limits. The higher they are (or the more readily charges cross the interface), the more readily will the equilibrium Galvani potential be established and the higher will be the stability of this potential against external effects. Electrode reactions (electrodes) for which equilibrium is readily established are called thermodynamically reversible reactions (electrodes). But low values of the exchange current indicate that the electrode reaction is slow (kinetically limited). 

Fach of these reactions has its own exchange current density and its own equilibrium potential. The condition of overall balance at this electrode is determined not by Fq. (2.7) but by the equation... 

The Nernst equation is of limited use at low absolute concentrations of the ions. At concentrations of 10 to 10 mol/L and the customary ratios between electrode surface area and electrolyte volume (SIV 10 cm ), the number of ions present in the electric double layer is comparable with that in the bulk electrolyte. Hence, EDL formation is associated with a change in bulk concentration, and the potential will no longer be the equilibrium potential with respect to the original concentration. Moreover, at these concentrations the exchange current densities are greatly reduced, and the potential is readily altered under the influence of extraneous effects. An absolute concentration of the potential-determining substances of 10 to 10 mol/L can be regarded as the limit of application of the Nernst equation. Such a limitation does not exist for low-equilibrium concentrations. 

As mentioned above, at equilibrium two opposing currents pass through the electrode, with absolute values termed the exchange current. The exchange current density j0 can be expressed at an arbitrary value of the equilibrium potential as a function of the concentrations of the oxidized and... 

For most of the reactions frequently employed in limiting-current studies, the surface overpotential is not negligible. A criterion for assessing its magnitude is the exchange-current density i0, which is a measure of the reaction rate at the equilibrium potential of the electrode (i.e., when anodic and cathodic rates are equal). 

Thus, the exchange current density, i0, is a useful arbiter of the dynamic nature of the electrode reaction. The larger the i0, the faster the exchange of ions and charge takes place, although because it is equilibrium, there is no net electronation or deelectronation current. We will see shortly that i0 determines the rate of electrode reactions at any potential A —and indeed leads to the study of electrodes acting as catalysts. 

At the equilibrium potential, both anodic and cathodic processes of a single electron transfer reaction take place at the same exchange rate (exchange current density) and no net current is observed through the external circuit. The exchange rate reflects the kinetics of the overall reaction and, in many cases, the electrocatalytic properties of the electrode surface. The open circuit potential, in this case, is the equilibrium potential and is therefore a thermodynamic quantity independent of kinetic factors and is related to the activities in solution through the Nemst law. 

The BV relation is often used in a form where the electrode potential is referred to by the more accessible equilibrium potential, Ee, and where the exchange current density, j0, replaces the rate constant k0 ... 

The exchange current density is the electrode reaction rate at the equilibrium potential (identical forward and reverse reaction rates) and depends on the electrode properties and operation. The typical expression for determining the exchange current density is the Arrhenius law (3.23), where the constant A depends on the gas concentration. Costamagna et al. [40] provide the following expressions for the anodic and cathodic exchange current density, respectively ... 

Now, to go to the experimental situation, what happens as we insert a metal electrode into an electrolyte solution without connecting it to an external electron source As we have discussed before (p. 22), an El is built up and hence a certain potential is established across the interface region. At this potential, charge transfer between electrode and electroactive species takes place, but, since no net current flows, the rates of electronation and de-electronation are identical. The system has reached the equilibrium potential at which the current density z for electronation is equal to the current density of de-electronation i. This current density is designated i0, the equilibrium exchange current density (cf. Table 6), given by the expression ... 

Corrosion — Corrosion current density — Figure. Polarization curves of a metal/metal ion electrode and the H2/H+ electrode including the anodic and cathodic partial current curves, the Nernst equilibrium electrode potentials E(Me/Mez+) and (H2/H+), their exchange current densities / o,M> o,redox and related overpotentials Me) and 77(H), the rest potential r, the polarization n and the corrosion current density ic at open circuit conditions (E = Er) [i]... 

Equilibrium electrode potential — is the value of -> electrode potential determined exclusively by a single redox system ox/red in the absence of current and under complete equilibration. The rates of ox to red reduction and of red to ox oxidation processes are equal under these circumstances (see exchange current density). The value of equilibrium e.p. is determined by the - Nernst equation. Equilibrium e.p. presents a - redox potential in its fundamental sense. See also - reversibility. 

Reversibility — This concept is used in several ways. We may speak of chemical reversibility when the same reaction (e.g., -> cell reaction) can take place in both directions. Thermodynamic reversibility means that an infinitesimal reversal of a driving force causes the process to reverse its direction. The reaction proceeds through a series of equilibrium states, however, such a path would require an infinite length of time. The electrochemical reversibility is a practical concept. In short, it means that the -> Nernst equation can be applied also when the actual electrode potential (E) is higher (anodic reaction) or lower (cathodic reaction) than the - equilibrium potential (Ee), E > Ee. Therefore, such a process is called a reversible or nernstian reaction (reversible or nerns-tian system, behavior). It is the case when the - activation energy is small, consequently the -> standard rate constants (ks) and the -> exchange current density (jo) are high. 

When a PEVD system is at equilibrium under open circuit conditions, a thermodynamically defined reversible inner (or Galvani) potential is set up at the working electrode. The equilibrium involved is a dynamic one, in which the rates at which charge carriers pass through the interface at the working electrode in both directions are equal. This rate is the exchange current density ig. 

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