A complex approach to study the electrode-solution region. Surface layer, electrical double layer, medium properties and chemical reactivity

A complex approach to the study of the electrode-solution region is proposed that consists in the coupled study of molecular reactivity x and collective properties X. The general conclusion on the presence and value of the electrode effects for x is established by comparing the products of xdir, xhom of the direct electrolysis and the homogeneous catalytic ET- process HOMEC. The change in x with distance L from the electrode surface x = f(L) (1) is found by electrolysis using a near-electrode tomography NELTO by gradually varying the HOMEC´s contribution, the dependence (1) is established by solving the corresponding diffusion-kinetic equations. The collective characteristics X are related to the material and surface structure of the electrode, as well as the properties of the near-electrode medium - viscosity, dielectric constant, etc., which are measured by spectro-electrochemical and electrochemical-atomic force microscopy techniques; hence the dependence X=F(L) (2) is found. Some results, using previously published and also unpublished data, are given. The combined x, X - measurements and comparison of dependencies (1) and (2) open up new possibilities for establishing the nature of electrode phenomena