Characteristic quantities of applied electrochemistry

Applied electrochemistry is the technique of using electrical energy to produce chemical energy and vice versa.

It is used in both production and analysis.

Directly or indirectly, the applications of electrochemistry can be found in many areas of industry. This specialty therefore brings together a wide range of engineers and technicians confronted with the most diverse problems.

In addition to the analytical sector, there are usually four other application areas for electrochemistry.

— Preparative electrochemistry (mineral, organic, etc.), leading in particular to modern process engineering concepts (chemical, electrochemical, engineering, etc.).

— The electrochemistry of generators (accumulators, rechargeable and non-rechargeable batteries, supercapacitors, etc.).

— The electrochemistry of corrosion and anticorrosion (the surface treatment of metallic materials is probably the sector most marked by the scale of developments over the last ten years).

— Bioelectrochemistry, which also includes electrophoretic separation methods.

While all these sectors have electrochemistry as their common denominator, the origins of the engineers and technicians who work in them are highly diverse. Some are close to mechanics and electricity. Others, on the contrary, are more sensitive to the chemical aspect.

All of them, however, face the same problem when it comes to solving problems: often, in fact, the approach they have to take has to extend far beyond the arbitrary boundaries of the sector they're working in.

To be complete, this approach must be phenomenological, but also quantitative, depending on whether an exact calculation or an order of magnitude is required. To achieve this, the engineer needs at least two complementary tools: the expression of laws or calculation rules, and the value of constants or characteristic quantities attached to them.

The aim of the "Constants in applied electrochemistry" section is not only to provide the means for applying these laws and rules, but also to bring together, in a single compendium, the constants and characteristic quantities associated with them.