Electrical Double Layer at a Metal-Dilute Electrolyte Solution Interface

Most of the properties of a metal-electrolyte interface, even the spe­ cific nature of an electrode reaction, proneness of a metal to cor­ rosion, etc., are primarily determined by the electrical double layer (EDL) at this boundary. It is therefore no surprise that for the last, at least, one hundred years intent attention should have been centered on EDL. So much of material has been gathered to date that we are easi­ ly lost in this maze of information. A substantial part of the...
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Most of the properties of a metal-electrolyte interface, even the spe­ cific nature of an electrode reaction, proneness of a metal to cor­ rosion, etc., are primarily determined by the electrical double layer (EDL) at this boundary. It is therefore no surprise that for the last, at least, one hundred years intent attention should have been centered on EDL. So much of material has been gathered to date that we are easi­ ly lost in this maze of information. A substantial part of the attempts to systematize these facts is made at present within the framework of thermodynamics. Such a confined approach is undoubtedly inadequate. The Gouy-Chapman theory and the Stern-Grahame model of the dense part of EDL developed 40-70 years ago, tailored appropriately to suit the occasion, inevitably underlie any description of EDL. This route is rather too narrow to explain all the facts at our disposal. A dire necessity has thus arisen for widening the principles of the micros­ copic theory. This is precisely the objective of our monograph. Fur­ thermore, we shall dwell at length on the comparison of the theory with experiment: without such a comparative analysis, any theory, however elegant it may be, is just an empty drum.