Electroanalytical Chemistry of Membranes

I. PERSPECTIVE ON THE ROLES OF MEMBRANE ELECTROCHEMISTRY AND ELECTROANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY

The thrust of electrochemistry in the past 25 years has been the study of electrode processes at blocked and unblocked electrodes, primarily metal/electrolyte interfaces. The vast literature which has been contributed by both physical and analytical chemists comprises a topic now known as electrodics to distinguish it from the more classical topics – electrochemical thermodynamics (the study of equilibrium and transport properties of electrochemical cells) and ionics (the study of equilibrium and transport properties of electrolyte solutions) – which occupied a significant number of chemists during the first 50 years of this century. Analytical electrochemists have found their interests expanding as they turn from analytical methodology to fundamental and applied studies within electrodics. Many practical contributions have been made in new and improved battery systems, fuel cells, electrochemical synthesis, electrolyte and redox properties in nonaqueous solvents, and electrochemical instrumentation. Electroanalytical chemists have also contributed to fundamental topics such as: double layer structure; capacitance measurements and charging kinetics; thorough characterization of inert and electroactive materials on electrodes; roles of adsorbed intermediates; kinetics of fast homogeneous reactions coupled into electron and ion transfers at electrodes; electrocatalysis; elucidation of electrochemical oxidation and reduction pathways; electrogeneration of radicals in and out of esr resonant cavities; radical annihilation reactions; electrochemiluminescence; development of ultrasensitive spectroelectrochemical techniques for detection of electrochemical intermediates; and theoretical and experimental aspects of energy transfers in connection with the rates of electron and ion transfers at electrodes.