Introduction

This website is about the contents in the Electrochemistry topic, which is the sixth chapter in Form 4 syllabus.

Purpose: To provide a free online learning resources for everyone, especially for those Chemistry fans worldwide.

English chemist John Daniell (left) and physicist Michael Faraday (right), both credited as founders of electrochemistry today.

Electrochemistry is a branch of chemistry that studies chemical reactions which take place in a solution at the interface of an electron conductor (the electrode: a metal or asemiconductor) and an ionic conductor (the electrolyte). These reactions involve electron transfer between the electrode and the electrolyte or species in solution.

If a chemical reaction is driven by an externally applied voltage, as in electrolysis, or if a voltage is created by a chemical reaction as in a battery, it is an electrochemical reaction. In contrast, chemical reactions where electrons are transferred between molecules are called oxidation/reduction (redox) reactions. In general, electrochemistry deals with situations where oxidation and reduction reactions are separated in space or time, connected by an external electric circuit.