78964 - Electrochemistry T

Learning outcomes

The students learn: the fundamentals of electrochemistry, in particular the thermodynamic and kinetic aspects of the electrochemical processes, and the basis of the transport and the interactions of electrically charged species; to apply this knowledge in the fields of energetics and material corrosion.

Course contents

1. Foundations, definitions and concepts

• Electricity
• Electrolytes
• Electrochemical cells
• Faraday's laws

Electrical conductors

• Electronic conductors
• Ionic conductors

Electrical conductivity of electrolytes

• Ionic mobility
• Conductance
• Conductivity and Kohlrausch's law
• Weak electrolytes
• Transport

Interionic interactions

• Electrochemical potential
• The Debye-Hückel theory of ionic solutions
• Conductivity: the Debye-Hückel-Onsager theory

Electrode potentials

• The Nernst equation
• Electrode potentials
• Standard potentials
• Other potentials

Mass transport

• Flux density
• Migration
• Diffusion
• Einstein relation
• Convection

The double layer: the electrode-solution interface

• The electrod/electrolyte interface
• The structure of the interface
• The electric potential at the interface
• Polarizable and non-polarizable interfaces
• Experimantal study of the interface
• Semiconductor electrode

Essentials of chemical kinetics

• Empirical chemical kinetics
• Reaction mechanisms
• Transition state theory

Electrode kinetics

• Overpotential
• The Butler-Volmer equation
• The Marcus theory
• Transport effect

Applications

• Sources of electrochemical energy
• Electrocatalysis
  
• Fuell cells
• Electrochemical sensors
  
• Corrosion

Readings/Bibliography

• Lecture notes available online
• PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY, P. Atkins ande J. de Paula, 8 edn., Oxford University Press, 2006
• ELECTROCHEMISTRY, C.H. Hamann, A. Hamnett and W. Vielstich, 2nd ed., Wiley-VCH, 2007
• ELECTROCHEMICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: FUNDAMENTALS AND APPLICATIONS,
  K. Oldham, J. Myland e A. Bond, Wiley, 2011

Teaching methods

Lectures in the classroom. In-class exercises.

Assessment methods

Learning assessment is evaluated only by means of the final examination. This aims at verifying the student's knowledge and skills by means of an oral exam, which lasts for about one hour.

Three questions concerning the course contents are asked to the student.  The final mark depends on the knowledge aquired by the student, the capability to present his arguments and the ability to connect different topics of the course contents.

Teaching tools

Video projector, notebook, blackboard.

Office hours

See the website of Luca Dore

See the website of Massimo Marcaccio