In
electrochemistry
Electrochemistry is the branch of physical chemistry concerned with the relationship between Electric potential, electrical potential difference and identifiable chemical change. These reactions involve Electron, electrons moving via an electronic ...
, the Nernst equation is a
chemical thermodynamical relationship that permits the calculation of the
reduction potential
Redox potential (also known as oxidation / reduction potential, ''ORP'', ''pe'', ''E_'', or E_) is a measure of the tendency of a chemical species to acquire electrons from or lose electrons to an electrode and thereby be reduced or oxidised respe ...
of a reaction (
half-cell or
full cell reaction) from the
standard electrode potential
In electrochemistry, standard electrode potential E^\ominus, or E^\ominus_, is the electrode potential (a measure of the reducing power of any element or compound) which the IUPAC "Gold Book" defines as ''"the value of the standard emf ( electrom ...
,
absolute temperature
Thermodynamic temperature, also known as absolute temperature, is a physical quantity which measures temperature starting from absolute zero, the point at which particles have minimal thermal motion.
Thermodynamic temperature is typically expres ...
, the number of electrons involved in the
redox reaction
Redox ( , , reduction–oxidation or oxidation–reduction) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of the reactants change. Oxidation is the loss of electrons or an increase in the oxidation state, while reduction is ...
, and
activities (often approximated by concentrations) of the
chemical species
Chemical species are a specific form of chemical substance or chemically identical molecular entities that have the same molecular energy level at a specified timescale. These entities are classified through bonding types and relative abundance of ...
undergoing reduction and
oxidation
Redox ( , , reduction–oxidation or oxidation–reduction) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of the reactants change. Oxidation is the loss of electrons or an increase in the oxidation state, while reduction is ...
respectively. It was named after
Walther Nernst
Walther Hermann Nernst (; 25 June 1864 – 18 November 1941) was a German physical chemist known for his work in thermodynamics, physical chemistry, electrochemistry, and solid-state physics. His formulation of the Nernst heat theorem helped ...
, a German
physical chemist
Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic and microscopic phenomena in chemical systems in terms of the principles, practices, and concepts of physics such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistical mecha ...
who formulated the equation.
Expression
General form with chemical activities
When an oxidized species () accepts a number ''z'' of electrons () to be converted in its reduced form (), the half-reaction is expressed as:
:
Ox + ze- -> Red
The
reaction quotient
In chemical thermodynamics, the reaction quotient (''Q''r or just ''Q'') is a dimensionless quantity that provides a measurement of the relative amounts of products and reactants present in a reaction mixture for a reaction with well-defined overal ...
('), also often called the ion activity product (''IAP''), is the ratio between the
chemical activities (''a'') of the reduced form (the
reductant
In chemistry, a reducing agent (also known as a reductant, reducer, or electron donor) is a chemical species that "donates" an electron to an (called the , , , or ).
Examples of substances that are common reducing agents include hydrogen, carbon ...
, ) and the oxidized form (the
oxidant
An oxidizing agent (also known as an oxidant, oxidizer, electron recipient, or electron acceptor) is a substance in a redox chemical reaction that gains or "Electron acceptor, accepts"/"receives" an electron from a (called the , , or ''electr ...
, ). The chemical activity of a dissolved species corresponds to its true thermodynamic concentration taking into account the electrical interactions between all ions present in solution at elevated concentrations. For a given dissolved species, its chemical activity (a) is the product of its
activity coefficient
In thermodynamics, an activity coefficient is a factor used to account for deviation of a mixture of chemical substances from ideal behaviour. In an ideal mixture, the microscopic interactions between each pair of chemical species are the same ( ...
(γ) by its
molar (mol/L solution), or
molal (mol/kg water),
concentration
In chemistry, concentration is the abundance of a constituent divided by the total volume of a mixture. Several types of mathematical description can be distinguished: '' mass concentration'', '' molar concentration'', '' number concentration'', ...
(C): a = γ C. So, if the concentration (''C'', also denoted here below with square brackets
of all the dissolved species of interest are sufficiently low and that their
activity coefficient
In thermodynamics, an activity coefficient is a factor used to account for deviation of a mixture of chemical substances from ideal behaviour. In an ideal mixture, the microscopic interactions between each pair of chemical species are the same ( ...
s are close to unity, their chemical activities can be approximated by their
concentration
In chemistry, concentration is the abundance of a constituent divided by the total volume of a mixture. Several types of mathematical description can be distinguished: '' mass concentration'', '' molar concentration'', '' number concentration'', ...
s as commonly done when simplifying, or idealizing, a reaction for didactic purposes:
:
At
chemical equilibrium
In a chemical reaction, chemical equilibrium is the state in which both the Reagent, reactants and Product (chemistry), products are present in concentrations which have no further tendency to change with time, so that there is no observable chan ...
, the ratio ' of the activity of the reaction product (''a''
Red) by the reagent activity (''a''
Ox) is equal to the
equilibrium constant
The equilibrium constant of a chemical reaction is the value of its reaction quotient at chemical equilibrium, a state approached by a dynamic chemical system after sufficient time has elapsed at which its composition has no measurable tendency ...
' of the half-reaction:
:
The standard thermodynamics also says that the actual
Gibbs free energy
In thermodynamics, the Gibbs free energy (or Gibbs energy as the recommended name; symbol is a thermodynamic potential that can be used to calculate the maximum amount of Work (thermodynamics), work, other than Work (thermodynamics)#Pressure–v ...
is related to the free energy change under
standard state
The standard state of a material (pure substance, mixture or solution) is a reference point used to calculate its properties under different conditions. A degree sign (°) or a superscript ⦵ symbol (⦵) is used to designate a thermodynamic q ...
by the relationship:
where is the
reaction quotient
In chemical thermodynamics, the reaction quotient (''Q''r or just ''Q'') is a dimensionless quantity that provides a measurement of the relative amounts of products and reactants present in a reaction mixture for a reaction with well-defined overal ...
and R is the
universal ideal gas constant.
The cell potential associated with the electrochemical reaction is defined as the decrease in Gibbs free energy per coulomb of charge transferred, which leads to the relationship
The constant (the
Faraday constant
In physical chemistry, the Faraday constant (symbol , sometimes stylized as ℱ) is a physical constant defined as the quotient of the total electric charge () by the amount () of elementary charge carriers in any given sample of matter: it ...
) is a unit conversion factor , where is the
Avogadro constant
The Avogadro constant, commonly denoted or , is an SI defining constant with an exact value of when expressed in reciprocal moles.
It defines the ratio of the number of constituent particles to the amount of substance in a sample, where th ...
and is the fundamental
electron
The electron (, or in nuclear reactions) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary charge, elementary electric charge. It is a fundamental particle that comprises the ordinary matter that makes up the universe, along with up qua ...
charge. This immediately leads to the Nernst equation, which for an electrochemical half-cell is
For a complete electrochemical reaction (full cell), the equation can be written as
where:
* is the half-cell
reduction potential
Redox potential (also known as oxidation / reduction potential, ''ORP'', ''pe'', ''E_'', or E_) is a measure of the tendency of a chemical species to acquire electrons from or lose electrons to an electrode and thereby be reduced or oxidised respe ...
at the temperature of interest,
* is the
''standard'' half-cell reduction potential,
* is the cell potential (
electromotive force
In electromagnetism and electronics, electromotive force (also electromotance, abbreviated emf, denoted \mathcal) is an energy transfer to an electric circuit per unit of electric charge, measured in volts. Devices called electrical ''transducer ...
) at the temperature of interest,
* is the
standard cell potential in volts,
* is the
universal ideal gas constant: ,
* is the temperature in
kelvin
The kelvin (symbol: K) is the base unit for temperature in the International System of Units (SI). The Kelvin scale is an absolute temperature scale that starts at the lowest possible temperature (absolute zero), taken to be 0 K. By de ...
s,
* is the number of
electron
The electron (, or in nuclear reactions) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary charge, elementary electric charge. It is a fundamental particle that comprises the ordinary matter that makes up the universe, along with up qua ...
s transferred in the cell reaction or
half-reaction
In chemistry, a half reaction (or half-cell reaction) is either the oxidation or reduction reaction component of a redox reaction. A half reaction is obtained by considering the change in oxidation states of individual substances involved in the r ...
,
* is Faraday's constant, the magnitude of charge (in
coulomb
The coulomb (symbol: C) is the unit of electric charge in the International System of Units (SI).
It is defined to be equal to the electric charge delivered by a 1 ampere current in 1 second, with the elementary charge ''e'' as a defining c ...
s) per
mole of electrons: ,
* is the reaction quotient of the cell reaction, and,
* is the chemical
activity for the relevant species, where is the activity of the reduced form and is the activity of the oxidized form.
Thermal voltage
At room temperature (25 °C), the
thermal voltage is approximately 25.693 mV. The Nernst equation is frequently expressed in terms of base-10
logarithms
In mathematics, the logarithm of a number is the exponent by which another fixed value, the base, must be raised to produce that number. For example, the logarithm of to base is , because is to the rd power: . More generally, if , the ...
(''i.e.'',
common logarithm
In mathematics, the common logarithm (aka "standard logarithm") is the logarithm with base 10. It is also known as the decadic logarithm, the decimal logarithm and the Briggsian logarithm. The name "Briggsian logarithm" is in honor of the British ...
s) rather than
natural logarithms
The natural logarithm of a number is its logarithm to the base of the mathematical constant , which is an irrational and transcendental number approximately equal to . The natural logarithm of is generally written as , , or sometimes, if ...
, in which case it is written:
where ''λ'' = ln(10) ≈ 2.3026 and ''λV
T'' ≈ 0.05916 Volt.
Form with activity coefficients and concentrations
Similarly to equilibrium constants, activities are always measured with respect to the
standard state
The standard state of a material (pure substance, mixture or solution) is a reference point used to calculate its properties under different conditions. A degree sign (°) or a superscript ⦵ symbol (⦵) is used to designate a thermodynamic q ...
(1 mol/L for solutes, 1 atm for gases, and T = 298.15 K, ''i.e.'', 25 °C or 77 °F). The chemical activity of a species , , is related to the measured concentration via the relationship , where is the
activity coefficient
In thermodynamics, an activity coefficient is a factor used to account for deviation of a mixture of chemical substances from ideal behaviour. In an ideal mixture, the microscopic interactions between each pair of chemical species are the same ( ...
of the species . Because activity coefficients tend to unity at low concentrations, or are unknown or difficult to determine at medium and high concentrations, activities in the Nernst equation are frequently replaced by simple concentrations and then, formal standard reduction potentials
used.
Taking into account the activity coefficients (
) the Nernst equation becomes:
Where the first term including the
activity coefficient
In thermodynamics, an activity coefficient is a factor used to account for deviation of a mixture of chemical substances from ideal behaviour. In an ideal mixture, the microscopic interactions between each pair of chemical species are the same ( ...
s (
) is denoted
and called the formal standard reduction potential, so that
can be directly expressed as a function of
and the concentrations in the simplest form of the Nernst equation:
Formal standard reduction potential
When wishing to use simple concentrations in place of activities, but that the activity coefficients are far from unity and can no longer be neglected and are unknown or too difficult to determine, it can be convenient to introduce the notion of the "so-called" standard formal reduction potential (
) which is related to the standard reduction potential as follows:
So that the Nernst equation for the half-cell reaction can be correctly formally written in terms of concentrations as:
and likewise for the full cell expression.
According to Wenzel (2020),
a formal reduction potential
is the reduction potential that applies to a half reaction under a set of specified conditions such as, e.g.,
pH,
ionic strength
The ionic strength of a solution is a measure of the concentration of ions in that solution. Ionic compounds, when dissolved in water, dissociate into ions. The total electrolyte concentration in solution will affect important properties such a ...
, or the concentration of
complexing agent
A coordination complex is a chemical compound consisting of a central atom or ion, which is usually metallic and is called the ''coordination centre'', and a surrounding array of bound molecules or ions, that are in turn known as ''ligands'' or ...
s.
The formal reduction potential
is often a more convenient, but conditional, form of the standard reduction potential, taking into account activity coefficients and specific conditions characteristics of the reaction medium. Therefore, its value is a conditional value, ''i.e.'', that it depends on the experimental conditions and because the ionic strength affects the activity coefficients,
will vary from medium to medium.
Several definitions of the formal reduction potential can be found in the literature, depending on the pursued objective and the experimental constraints imposed by the studied system. The general definition of
refers to its value determined when
. A more particular case is when
is also determined at pH 7, as e.g. for redox reactions important in biochemistry or biological systems.
Determination of the formal standard reduction potential when 1
The formal standard reduction potential
can be defined as the measured reduction potential
of the half-reaction at unity concentration ratio of the oxidized and reduced species (''i.e.'', when 1) under given conditions.
Indeed:
as,
, when
,
:
, when
,
because
, and that the term
is included in
.
The formal reduction potential makes possible to more simply work with
molar (mol/L, M) or
molal (mol/kg , m) concentrations in place of
activities. Because molar and molal concentrations were once referred as
formal concentration
Molar concentration (also called molarity, amount concentration or substance concentration) is the number of moles of solute per liter of solution. Specifically, It is a measure of the concentration of a chemical species, in particular, of a s ...
s, it could explain the origin of the adjective ''formal'' in the expression ''formal'' potential.
The formal potential is thus the reversible potential of an electrode at equilibrium immersed in a solution where reactants and products are at unit concentration.
If any small incremental change of potential causes a change in the direction of the reaction, ''i.e.'' from reduction to oxidation or ''vice versa'', the system is close to equilibrium, reversible and is at its formal potential. When the formal potential is measured under
standard conditions (''i.e.'' the activity of each dissolved species is 1 mol/L, T = 298.15 K = 25 °C = 77 °F, = 1 bar) it becomes ''de facto'' a standard potential.
According to Brown and Swift (1949):
"A formal potential is defined as the potential of a half-cell, measured against the standard hydrogen electrode
In electrochemistry, the standard hydrogen electrode (abbreviated SHE), is a redox electrode which forms the basis of the thermodynamic scale of oxidation-reduction potentials. Its absolute electrode potential is estimated to be at 25 ° ...
, when the total concentration of each oxidation state
In chemistry, the oxidation state, or oxidation number, is the hypothetical Electrical charge, charge of an atom if all of its Chemical bond, bonds to other atoms are fully Ionic bond, ionic. It describes the degree of oxidation (loss of electrons ...
is one formal
Formal, formality, informal or informality imply the complying with, or not complying with, some set of requirements ( forms, in Ancient Greek). They may refer to:
Dress code and events
* Formal wear, attire for formal events
* Semi-formal atti ...
".
In this case, as for the standard reduction potentials, the concentrations of dissolved species remain equal to one
molar (M) or one
molal (m), and so are said to be one
formal
Formal, formality, informal or informality imply the complying with, or not complying with, some set of requirements ( forms, in Ancient Greek). They may refer to:
Dress code and events
* Formal wear, attire for formal events
* Semi-formal atti ...
(F). So, expressing the concentration in
molarity
Molar concentration (also called molarity, amount concentration or substance concentration) is the number of moles of solute per liter of solution. Specifically, It is a measure of the concentration of a chemical species, in particular, of a solu ...
(1 mol/L):
:
The term formal concentration (F) is now largely ignored in the current literature and can be commonly assimilated to molar concentration (M), or molality (m) in case of thermodynamic calculations.
The formal potential is also found halfway between the two peaks in a cyclic
voltammogram, where at this point the concentration of Ox (the oxidized species) and Red (the reduced species) at the electrode surface are equal.
The
activity coefficient
In thermodynamics, an activity coefficient is a factor used to account for deviation of a mixture of chemical substances from ideal behaviour. In an ideal mixture, the microscopic interactions between each pair of chemical species are the same ( ...
s
and
are included in the formal potential
, and because they depend on experimental conditions such as temperature,
ionic strength
The ionic strength of a solution is a measure of the concentration of ions in that solution. Ionic compounds, when dissolved in water, dissociate into ions. The total electrolyte concentration in solution will affect important properties such a ...
, and
pH,
cannot be referred as an immutable standard potential but needs to be systematically determined for each specific set of experimental conditions.
Formal reduction potentials are applied to simplify calculations of a considered system under given conditions and measurements interpretation. The experimental conditions in which they are determined and their relationship to the standard reduction potentials must be clearly described to avoid to confuse them with standard reduction potentials.
Formal standard reduction potential at pH 7
Formal standard reduction potentials (
) are also commonly used in
biochemistry
Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...
and
cell biology
Cell biology (also cellular biology or cytology) is a branch of biology that studies the structure, function, and behavior of cells. All living organisms are made of cells. A cell is the basic unit of life that is responsible for the living an ...
for referring to
standard reduction potential
Redox potential (also known as oxidation / reduction potential, ''ORP'', ''pe'', ''E_'', or E_) is a measure of the tendency of a chemical species to acquire electrons from or lose electrons to an electrode and thereby be reduced or oxidised respe ...
s measured at pH 7, a value closer to the
pH of most physiological and intracellular fluids than the
standard state
The standard state of a material (pure substance, mixture or solution) is a reference point used to calculate its properties under different conditions. A degree sign (°) or a superscript ⦵ symbol (⦵) is used to designate a thermodynamic q ...
pH of 0. The advantage is to defining a more appropriate
redox scale better corresponding to real conditions than the standard state. Formal standard reduction potentials (
) allow to more easily estimate if a
redox
Redox ( , , reduction–oxidation or oxidation–reduction) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of the reactants change. Oxidation is the loss of electrons or an increase in the oxidation state, while reduction is t ...
reaction supposed to occur in a
metabolic process or to fuel microbial activity under some conditions is feasible or not.
While, standard reduction potentials always refer to the
standard hydrogen electrode
In electrochemistry, the standard hydrogen electrode (abbreviated SHE), is a redox electrode which forms the basis of the thermodynamic scale of oxidation-reduction potentials. Its absolute electrode potential is estimated to be at 25 ° ...
(SHE), with [] = 1 M corresponding to a pH 0, and
fixed arbitrarily to zero by convention, it is no longer the case at a pH of 7. Then, the reduction potential
of a hydrogen electrode operating at pH 7 is −0.413 V with respect to the
standard hydrogen electrode
In electrochemistry, the standard hydrogen electrode (abbreviated SHE), is a redox electrode which forms the basis of the thermodynamic scale of oxidation-reduction potentials. Its absolute electrode potential is estimated to be at 25 ° ...
(SHE).
Expression of the Nernst equation as a function of pH
The
and
pH of a solution are related by the Nernst equation as commonly represented by a
Pourbaix diagram
In electrochemistry, and more generally in solution chemistry, a Pourbaix diagram, also known as a potential/pH diagram, EH–pH diagram or a pE/pH diagram, is a plot of possible thermodynamically stable phases (''i.e.'', at chemical equilibrium) ...
.
explicitly denotes
expressed versus the
standard hydrogen electrode
In electrochemistry, the standard hydrogen electrode (abbreviated SHE), is a redox electrode which forms the basis of the thermodynamic scale of oxidation-reduction potentials. Its absolute electrode potential is estimated to be at 25 ° ...
(SHE). For a
half cell equation, conventionally written as a reduction reaction (''i.e.'', electrons accepted by an oxidant on the left side):
:
The half-cell
standard reduction potential
Redox potential (also known as oxidation / reduction potential, ''ORP'', ''pe'', ''E_'', or E_) is a measure of the tendency of a chemical species to acquire electrons from or lose electrons to an electrode and thereby be reduced or oxidised respe ...
is given by
:
where
is the standard
Gibbs free energy
In thermodynamics, the Gibbs free energy (or Gibbs energy as the recommended name; symbol is a thermodynamic potential that can be used to calculate the maximum amount of Work (thermodynamics), work, other than Work (thermodynamics)#Pressure–v ...
change, is the number of electrons involved, and is the
Faraday's constant. The Nernst equation relates pH and
as follows:
:
where curly brackets indicate
activities, and exponents are shown in the conventional manner. This equation is the equation of a straight line for
as a function of pH with a slope of
volt (pH has no units).
This equation predicts lower
at higher pH values. This is observed for the reduction of O
2 into H
2O, or OH
−, and for the reduction of H
+ into H
2.
is then often noted as
to indicate that it refers to the
standard hydrogen electrode
In electrochemistry, the standard hydrogen electrode (abbreviated SHE), is a redox electrode which forms the basis of the thermodynamic scale of oxidation-reduction potentials. Its absolute electrode potential is estimated to be at 25 ° ...
(SHE) whose
= 0 by convention under standard conditions (T = 298.15 K = 25 °C = 77 F, P
gas = 1 atm (1.013 bar), concentrations = 1 M and thus pH = 0).
Main factors affecting the formal standard reduction potentials
The main factor affecting the formal reduction potentials in biochemical or biological processes is most often the pH. To determine approximate values of formal reduction potentials, neglecting in a first approach changes in activity coefficients due to ionic strength, the Nernst equation has to be applied taking care to first express the relationship as a function of pH. The second factor to be considered are the values of the concentrations taken into account in the Nernst equation. To define a formal reduction potential for a biochemical reaction, the pH value, the concentrations values and the hypotheses made on the activity coefficients must always be explicitly indicated. When using, or comparing, several formal reduction potentials they must also be internally consistent.
Problems may occur when mixing different sources of data using different conventions or approximations (''i.e.'', with different underlying hypotheses). When working at the frontier between inorganic and biological processes (e.g., when comparing abiotic and biotic processes in geochemistry when microbial activity could also be at work in the system), care must be taken not to inadvertently directly mix
standard reduction potential
Redox potential (also known as oxidation / reduction potential, ''ORP'', ''pe'', ''E_'', or E_) is a measure of the tendency of a chemical species to acquire electrons from or lose electrons to an electrode and thereby be reduced or oxidised respe ...
s versus SHE (pH = 0) with formal reduction potentials (pH = 7). Definitions must be clearly expressed and carefully controlled, especially if the sources of data are different and arise from different fields (e.g., picking and mixing data from classical electrochemistry and microbiology textbooks without paying attention to the different conventions on which they are based).
Examples with a Pourbaix diagram

To illustrate the dependency of the reduction potential on pH, one can simply consider the two
oxido-reduction equilibria determining the water stability domain in a
Pourbaix diagram
In electrochemistry, and more generally in solution chemistry, a Pourbaix diagram, also known as a potential/pH diagram, EH–pH diagram or a pE/pH diagram, is a plot of possible thermodynamically stable phases (''i.e.'', at chemical equilibrium) ...
. When water is submitted to
electrolysis
In chemistry and manufacturing, electrolysis is a technique that uses Direct current, direct electric current (DC) to drive an otherwise non-spontaneous chemical reaction. Electrolysis is commercially important as a stage in the separation of c ...
by applying a sufficient difference of
electrical potential
Electric potential (also called the ''electric field potential'', potential drop, the electrostatic potential) is defined as electric potential energy per unit of electric charge. More precisely, electric potential is the amount of work neede ...
between two
electrode
An electrode is an electrical conductor used to make contact with a nonmetallic part of a circuit (e.g. a semiconductor, an electrolyte, a vacuum or a gas). In electrochemical cells, electrodes are essential parts that can consist of a varie ...
s immersed in water,
hydrogen
Hydrogen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol H and atomic number 1. It is the lightest and abundance of the chemical elements, most abundant chemical element in the universe, constituting about 75% of all baryon, normal matter ...
is produced at the
cathode
A cathode is the electrode from which a conventional current leaves a polarized electrical device such as a lead-acid battery. This definition can be recalled by using the mnemonic ''CCD'' for ''Cathode Current Departs''. Conventional curren ...
(reduction of water protons) while
oxygen
Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...
is formed at the
anode
An anode usually is an electrode of a polarized electrical device through which conventional current enters the device. This contrasts with a cathode, which is usually an electrode of the device through which conventional current leaves the devic ...
(oxidation of water oxygen atoms). The same may occur if a reductant stronger than hydrogen (e.g., metallic Na) or an oxidant stronger than oxygen (e.g., F
2) enters in contact with water and reacts with it. In the here beside (the simplest possible version of a Pourbaix diagram), the water stability domain (grey surface) is delimited in term of redox potential by two inclined red dashed lines:
* Lower stability line with hydrogen gas evolution due to the proton reduction at very low E
h:
: (cathode: reduction)
* Higher stability line with oxygen gas evolution due to water oxygen oxidation at very high E
h:
: (anode: oxidation)
When solving the Nernst equation for each corresponding reduction reaction (need to revert the water oxidation reaction producing oxygen), both equations have a similar form because the number of protons and the number of electrons involved within a reaction are the same and their ratio is one (2/2 for H
2 and 4/4 with respectively), so it simplifies when solving the Nernst equation expressed as a function of pH.
The result can be numerically expressed as follows:
:
Note that the slopes of the two water stability domain upper and lower lines are the same (−59.16 mV/pH unit), so they are parallel on a
Pourbaix diagram
In electrochemistry, and more generally in solution chemistry, a Pourbaix diagram, also known as a potential/pH diagram, EH–pH diagram or a pE/pH diagram, is a plot of possible thermodynamically stable phases (''i.e.'', at chemical equilibrium) ...
. As the slopes are negative, at high pH, both hydrogen and oxygen evolution requires a much lower reduction potential than at low pH.
For the reduction of H
+ into H
2 the here above mentioned relationship becomes:
:
because by convention
= 0 V for the
standard hydrogen electrode
In electrochemistry, the standard hydrogen electrode (abbreviated SHE), is a redox electrode which forms the basis of the thermodynamic scale of oxidation-reduction potentials. Its absolute electrode potential is estimated to be at 25 ° ...
(SHE: pH = 0).
So, at pH = 7,
= −0.414 V for the reduction of protons.
For the reduction of O
2 into 2 H
2O the here above mentioned relationship becomes:
:
because
= +1.229 V with respect to the
standard hydrogen electrode
In electrochemistry, the standard hydrogen electrode (abbreviated SHE), is a redox electrode which forms the basis of the thermodynamic scale of oxidation-reduction potentials. Its absolute electrode potential is estimated to be at 25 ° ...
(SHE: pH = 0).
So, at pH = 7,
= +0.815 V for the reduction of oxygen.
The offset of −414 mV in
is the same for both reduction reactions because they share the same linear relationship as a function of pH and the slopes of their lines are the same. This can be directly verified on a Pourbaix diagram. For other reduction reactions, the value of the formal reduction potential at a pH of 7, commonly referred for biochemical reactions, also depends on the slope of the corresponding line in a Pourbaix diagram ''i.e.'' on the ratio ' of the number of to the number of involved in the reduction reaction, and thus on the
stoichiometry
Stoichiometry () is the relationships between the masses of reactants and Product (chemistry), products before, during, and following chemical reactions.
Stoichiometry is based on the law of conservation of mass; the total mass of reactants must ...
of the half-reaction. The determination of the formal reduction potential at pH = 7 for a given biochemical half-reaction requires thus to calculate it with the corresponding Nernst equation as a function of pH. One cannot simply apply an offset of −414 mV to the E
h value (SHE) when the ratio ' differs from 1.
Applications in biology
Beside
important redox reactions in biochemistry and microbiology, the Nernst equation is also used in
physiology
Physiology (; ) is the science, scientific study of function (biology), functions and mechanism (biology), mechanisms in a life, living system. As a branches of science, subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ syst ...
for calculating the
electric potential
Electric potential (also called the ''electric field potential'', potential drop, the electrostatic potential) is defined as electric potential energy per unit of electric charge. More precisely, electric potential is the amount of work (physic ...
of a
cell membrane
The cell membrane (also known as the plasma membrane or cytoplasmic membrane, and historically referred to as the plasmalemma) is a biological membrane that separates and protects the interior of a cell from the outside environment (the extr ...
with respect to one type of
ion
An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by convent ...
. It can be linked to the
acid dissociation constant
In chemistry, an acid dissociation constant (also known as acidity constant, or acid-ionization constant; denoted ) is a quantitative property, quantitative measure of the acid strength, strength of an acid in Solution (chemistry), solution. I ...
.
Nernst potential
The Nernst equation has a physiological application when used to calculate the potential of an ion of charge across a membrane. This potential is determined using the concentration of the ion both inside and outside the cell:
When the membrane is in
thermodynamic equilibrium
Thermodynamic equilibrium is a notion of thermodynamics with axiomatic status referring to an internal state of a single thermodynamic system, or a relation between several thermodynamic systems connected by more or less permeable or impermeable ...
(i.e., no net flux of ions), and if the cell is permeable to only one ion, then the
membrane potential
Membrane potential (also transmembrane potential or membrane voltage) is the difference in electric potential between the interior and the exterior of a biological cell. It equals the interior potential minus the exterior potential. This is th ...
must be equal to the Nernst potential for that ion.
Goldman equation
When the membrane is permeable to more than one ion, as is inevitably the case, the
resting potential
The relatively static membrane potential of quiescent cells is called the resting membrane potential (or resting voltage), as opposed to the specific dynamic electrochemical phenomena called action potential and graded membrane potential. The re ...
can be determined from the Goldman equation, which is a solution of
G-H-K influx equation under the constraints that total current density driven by electrochemical force is zero:
where
* is the membrane potential (in
volt
The volt (symbol: V) is the unit of electric potential, Voltage#Galvani potential vs. electrochemical potential, electric potential difference (voltage), and electromotive force in the International System of Units, International System of Uni ...
s, equivalent to
joule
The joule ( , or ; symbol: J) is the unit of energy in the International System of Units (SI). In terms of SI base units, one joule corresponds to one kilogram- metre squared per second squared One joule is equal to the amount of work d ...
s per
coulomb
The coulomb (symbol: C) is the unit of electric charge in the International System of Units (SI).
It is defined to be equal to the electric charge delivered by a 1 ampere current in 1 second, with the elementary charge ''e'' as a defining c ...
),
* is the permeability for that ion (in meters per second),
* is the extracellular concentration of that ion (in
moles per cubic meter, to match the other
SI units, though the units strictly don't matter, as the ion concentration terms become a dimensionless ratio),
* is the intracellular concentration of that ion (in moles per cubic meter),
* is the
ideal gas constant
The molar gas constant (also known as the gas constant, universal gas constant, or ideal gas constant) is denoted by the symbol or . It is the molar equivalent to the Boltzmann constant, expressed in units of energy per temperature increment pe ...
(joules per
kelvin
The kelvin (symbol: K) is the base unit for temperature in the International System of Units (SI). The Kelvin scale is an absolute temperature scale that starts at the lowest possible temperature (absolute zero), taken to be 0 K. By de ...
per mole),
* is the temperature in
kelvin
The kelvin (symbol: K) is the base unit for temperature in the International System of Units (SI). The Kelvin scale is an absolute temperature scale that starts at the lowest possible temperature (absolute zero), taken to be 0 K. By de ...
s,
* is the
Faraday's constant (coulombs per mole).
The potential across the cell membrane that exactly opposes net diffusion of a particular ion through the membrane is called the Nernst potential for that ion. As seen above, the magnitude of the Nernst potential is determined by the ratio of the concentrations of that specific ion on the two sides of the membrane. The greater this ratio the greater the tendency for the ion to diffuse in one direction, and therefore the greater the Nernst potential required to prevent the diffusion. A similar expression exists that includes (the absolute value of the transport ratio). This takes transporters with unequal exchanges into account. See:
sodium-potassium pump where the transport ratio would be 2/3, so r equals 1.5 in the formula below. The reason why we insert a factor r = 1.5 here is that current density ''by electrochemical force'' J
e.c.(Na
+) + J
e.c.(K
+) is no longer zero, but rather J
e.c.(Na
+) + 1.5J
e.c.(K
+) = 0 (as for both ions flux by electrochemical force is compensated by that by the pump, i.e. J
e.c. = −J
pump), altering the constraints for applying GHK equation. The other variables are the same as above. The following example includes two ions: potassium (K
+) and sodium (Na
+). Chloride is assumed to be in equilibrium.
When chloride (Cl
−) is taken into account,
Derivation
Using Boltzmann factor
For simplicity, we will consider a solution of redox-active molecules that undergo a one-electron
reversible reaction
A reversible reaction is a reaction in which the conversion of reactants to products and the conversion of products to reactants occur simultaneously.
: \mathit aA + \mathit bB \mathit cC + \mathit dD
A and B can react to form C and D or, in the ...
:
and that have a standard potential of zero, and in which the activities are well represented by the concentrations (i.e. unit activity coefficient). The
chemical potential
In thermodynamics, the chemical potential of a Chemical specie, species is the energy that can be absorbed or released due to a change of the particle number of the given species, e.g. in a chemical reaction or phase transition. The chemical potent ...
of this solution is the difference between the energy barriers for taking electrons from and for giving electrons to the
working electrode that is setting the solution's
electrochemical potential
Electrochemistry is the branch of physical chemistry concerned with the relationship between electrical potential difference and identifiable chemical change. These reactions involve electrons moving via an electronically conducting phase (typi ...
. The ratio of oxidized to reduced molecules, , is equivalent to the probability of being oxidized (giving electrons) over the probability of being reduced (taking electrons), which we can write in terms of the
Boltzmann factor
Factor (Latin, ) may refer to:
Commerce
* Factor (agent), a person who acts for, notably a mercantile and colonial agent
* Factor (Scotland), a person or firm managing a Scottish estate
* Factors of production, such a factor is a resource used ...
for these processes:
Taking the natural logarithm of both sides gives
If at = 1, we need to add in this additional constant:
Dividing the equation by to convert from chemical potentials to electrode potentials, and remembering that , we obtain the Nernst equation for the one-electron process :
Using thermodynamics (chemical potential)
Quantities here are given per molecule, not per
mole, and so
Boltzmann constant
The Boltzmann constant ( or ) is the proportionality factor that relates the average relative thermal energy of particles in a ideal gas, gas with the thermodynamic temperature of the gas. It occurs in the definitions of the kelvin (K) and the ...
and the
electron charge
C, or c, is the third letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''cee'' (pronounced ), plural ''cees''.
History
"C ...
are used instead of the
gas constant
The molar gas constant (also known as the gas constant, universal gas constant, or ideal gas constant) is denoted by the symbol or . It is the molar equivalent to the Boltzmann constant, expressed in units of energy per temperature increment p ...
and
Faraday's constant . To convert to the molar quantities given in most chemistry textbooks, it is simply necessary to multiply by the
Avogadro constant
The Avogadro constant, commonly denoted or , is an SI defining constant with an exact value of when expressed in reciprocal moles.
It defines the ratio of the number of constituent particles to the amount of substance in a sample, where th ...
: and . The
entropy
Entropy is a scientific concept, most commonly associated with states of disorder, randomness, or uncertainty. The term and the concept are used in diverse fields, from classical thermodynamics, where it was first recognized, to the micros ...
of a molecule is defined as
where is the number of states available to the molecule. The number of states must vary linearly with the volume of the system (here an idealized system is considered for better understanding, so that activities are posited very close to the true concentrations). Fundamental statistical proof of the mentioned linearity goes beyond the scope of this section, but to see this is true it is simpler to consider usual
isothermal process
An isothermal process is a type of thermodynamic process in which the temperature ''T'' of a system remains constant: Δ''T'' = 0. This typically occurs when a system is in contact with an outside thermal reservoir, and a change in the sy ...
for an
ideal gas
An ideal gas is a theoretical gas composed of many randomly moving point particles that are not subject to interparticle interactions. The ideal gas concept is useful because it obeys the ideal gas law, a simplified equation of state, and is ...
where the change of entropy takes place. It follows from the definition of entropy and from the condition of constant temperature and quantity of gas that the change in the number of states must be proportional to the relative change in volume . In this sense there is no difference in statistical properties of ideal gas atoms compared with the dissolved species of a solution with
activity coefficient
In thermodynamics, an activity coefficient is a factor used to account for deviation of a mixture of chemical substances from ideal behaviour. In an ideal mixture, the microscopic interactions between each pair of chemical species are the same ( ...
s equaling one: particles freely "hang around" filling the provided volume), which is inversely proportional to the
concentration
In chemistry, concentration is the abundance of a constituent divided by the total volume of a mixture. Several types of mathematical description can be distinguished: '' mass concentration'', '' molar concentration'', '' number concentration'', ...
, so we can also write the entropy as
The change in entropy from some state 1 to another state 2 is therefore
so that the entropy of state 2 is
If state 1 is at standard conditions, in which is unity (e.g., 1 atm or 1 M), it will merely cancel the units of . We can, therefore, write the entropy of an arbitrary molecule A as
where
is the entropy at
standard conditions and
denotes the concentration of A. The change in entropy for a reaction
is then given by
We define the ratio in the last term as the
reaction quotient
In chemical thermodynamics, the reaction quotient (''Q''r or just ''Q'') is a dimensionless quantity that provides a measurement of the relative amounts of products and reactants present in a reaction mixture for a reaction with well-defined overal ...
:
where the numerator is a product of reaction product
activities, , each raised to the power of a
stoichiometric coefficient
A chemical equation is the symbolic representation of a chemical reaction in the form of symbols and chemical formulas. The reactant entities are given on the left-hand side and the product entities are on the right-hand side with a plus sign be ...
, , and the denominator is a similar product of reactant activities. All activities refer to a time . Under certain circumstances (see
chemical equilibrium
In a chemical reaction, chemical equilibrium is the state in which both the Reagent, reactants and Product (chemistry), products are present in concentrations which have no further tendency to change with time, so that there is no observable chan ...
) each activity term such as may be replaced by a concentration term,
In an electrochemical cell, the cell potential is the
chemical potential
In thermodynamics, the chemical potential of a Chemical specie, species is the energy that can be absorbed or released due to a change of the particle number of the given species, e.g. in a chemical reaction or phase transition. The chemical potent ...
available from
redox
Redox ( , , reduction–oxidation or oxidation–reduction) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of the reactants change. Oxidation is the loss of electrons or an increase in the oxidation state, while reduction is t ...
reactions (). is related to the
Gibbs free energy
In thermodynamics, the Gibbs free energy (or Gibbs energy as the recommended name; symbol is a thermodynamic potential that can be used to calculate the maximum amount of Work (thermodynamics), work, other than Work (thermodynamics)#Pressure–v ...
change only by a constant:
, where is the number of electrons transferred and is the
Faraday constant
In physical chemistry, the Faraday constant (symbol , sometimes stylized as ℱ) is a physical constant defined as the quotient of the total electric charge () by the amount () of elementary charge carriers in any given sample of matter: it ...
. There is a negative sign because a spontaneous reaction has a negative
Gibbs free energy
In thermodynamics, the Gibbs free energy (or Gibbs energy as the recommended name; symbol is a thermodynamic potential that can be used to calculate the maximum amount of Work (thermodynamics), work, other than Work (thermodynamics)#Pressure–v ...
and a positive potential . The Gibbs free energy is related to the entropy by , where is the
enthalpy
Enthalpy () is the sum of a thermodynamic system's internal energy and the product of its pressure and volume. It is a state function in thermodynamics used in many measurements in chemical, biological, and physical systems at a constant extern ...
and is the temperature of the system. Using these relations, we can now write the change in Gibbs free energy,
and the cell potential,
This is the more general form of the Nernst equation.
For the redox reaction ,
and we have:
The cell potential at
standard temperature and pressure
Standard temperature and pressure (STP) or standard conditions for temperature and pressure are various standard sets of conditions for experimental measurements used to allow comparisons to be made between different sets of data. The most used ...
(STP)
is often replaced by the formal potential
, which includes the
activity coefficient
In thermodynamics, an activity coefficient is a factor used to account for deviation of a mixture of chemical substances from ideal behaviour. In an ideal mixture, the microscopic interactions between each pair of chemical species are the same ( ...
s of the dissolved species under given experimental conditions (T, P,
ionic strength
The ionic strength of a solution is a measure of the concentration of ions in that solution. Ionic compounds, when dissolved in water, dissociate into ions. The total electrolyte concentration in solution will affect important properties such a ...
,
pH, and complexing agents) and is the potential that is actually measured in an electrochemical cell.
Relation to the chemical equilibrium
The standard
Gibbs free energy
In thermodynamics, the Gibbs free energy (or Gibbs energy as the recommended name; symbol is a thermodynamic potential that can be used to calculate the maximum amount of Work (thermodynamics), work, other than Work (thermodynamics)#Pressure–v ...
is related to the
equilibrium constant
The equilibrium constant of a chemical reaction is the value of its reaction quotient at chemical equilibrium, a state approached by a dynamic chemical system after sufficient time has elapsed at which its composition has no measurable tendency ...
as follows:
:
At the same time,
is also equal to the product of the total charge () transferred during the reaction and the cell potential (
):
:
The sign is negative, because the considered system performs the work and thus releases energy.
So,
:
And therefore:
:
Starting from the Nernst equation, one can also demonstrate the same relationship in the reverse way.
At
chemical equilibrium
In a chemical reaction, chemical equilibrium is the state in which both the Reagent, reactants and Product (chemistry), products are present in concentrations which have no further tendency to change with time, so that there is no observable chan ...
, or
thermodynamic equilibrium
Thermodynamic equilibrium is a notion of thermodynamics with axiomatic status referring to an internal state of a single thermodynamic system, or a relation between several thermodynamic systems connected by more or less permeable or impermeable ...
, the
electrochemical potential
Electrochemistry is the branch of physical chemistry concerned with the relationship between electrical potential difference and identifiable chemical change. These reactions involve electrons moving via an electronically conducting phase (typi ...
and therefore the
reaction quotient
In chemical thermodynamics, the reaction quotient (''Q''r or just ''Q'') is a dimensionless quantity that provides a measurement of the relative amounts of products and reactants present in a reaction mixture for a reaction with well-defined overal ...
() attains the special value known as the
equilibrium constant
The equilibrium constant of a chemical reaction is the value of its reaction quotient at chemical equilibrium, a state approached by a dynamic chemical system after sufficient time has elapsed at which its composition has no measurable tendency ...
():
:
Therefore,
Or at
standard state
The standard state of a material (pure substance, mixture or solution) is a reference point used to calculate its properties under different conditions. A degree sign (°) or a superscript ⦵ symbol (⦵) is used to designate a thermodynamic q ...
,
We have thus related the
standard electrode potential
In electrochemistry, standard electrode potential E^\ominus, or E^\ominus_, is the electrode potential (a measure of the reducing power of any element or compound) which the IUPAC "Gold Book" defines as ''"the value of the standard emf ( electrom ...
and the
equilibrium constant
The equilibrium constant of a chemical reaction is the value of its reaction quotient at chemical equilibrium, a state approached by a dynamic chemical system after sufficient time has elapsed at which its composition has no measurable tendency ...
of a redox reaction.
Limitations
In dilute solutions, the Nernst equation can be expressed directly in the terms of concentrations (since activity coefficients are close to unity). But at higher concentrations, the true activities of the ions must be used. This complicates the use of the Nernst equation, since estimation of non-ideal activities of ions generally requires experimental measurements. The Nernst equation also only applies when there is no net current flow through the electrode. The activity of ions at the electrode surface changes
when there is current flow, and there are additional
overpotential
In electrochemistry, overpotential is the potential difference (voltage) between a half-reaction's thermodynamically determined reduction potential and the potential at which the redox event is experimentally observed. The term is directly r ...
and resistive loss terms which contribute to the measured potential.
At very low concentrations of the potential-determining ions, the potential predicted by Nernst equation approaches toward . This is physically meaningless because, under such conditions, the
exchange current density becomes very low, and there may be no thermodynamic equilibrium necessary for Nernst equation to hold. The electrode is called unpoised in such case. Other effects tend to take control of the electrochemical behavior of the system, like the involvement of the
solvated electron in electricity transfer and electrode equilibria, as analyzed by
Alexander Frumkin
Alexander Naumovich Frumkin (; 24 October 1895 – 27 May 1976) was a Soviet Russian electrochemist, member of the Russian Academy of Sciences since 1932, founder of the Russian Journal of Electrochemistry '' Elektrokhimiya'' and receiver o ...
and B. Damaskin, Sergio Trasatti, etc.
Time dependence of the potential
The expression of time dependence has been established by Karaoglanoff.
Significance in other scientific fields
The Nernst equation has been involved in the scientific controversy about
cold fusion
Cold fusion is a hypothesized type of nuclear reaction that would occur at, or near, room temperature. It would contrast starkly with the nuclear fusion, "hot" fusion that is known to take place naturally within Main sequence, stars and artific ...
. Fleischmann and Pons, claiming that cold fusion could exist, calculated that a
palladium
Palladium is a chemical element; it has symbol Pd and atomic number 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1802 by the English chemist William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas (formally 2 Pallas), ...
cathode
A cathode is the electrode from which a conventional current leaves a polarized electrical device such as a lead-acid battery. This definition can be recalled by using the mnemonic ''CCD'' for ''Cathode Current Departs''. Conventional curren ...
immersed in a
heavy water
Heavy water (deuterium oxide, , ) is a form of water (molecule), water in which hydrogen atoms are all deuterium ( or D, also known as ''heavy hydrogen'') rather than the common hydrogen-1 isotope (, also called ''protium'') that makes up most o ...
electrolysis cell could achieve up to 10
27 atmospheres of pressure inside the
crystal lattice
In crystallography, crystal structure is a description of ordered arrangement of atoms, ions, or molecules in a crystal, crystalline material. Ordered structures occur from intrinsic nature of constituent particles to form symmetric patterns that ...
of the metal of the cathode, enough pressure to cause spontaneous
nuclear fusion
Nuclear fusion is a nuclear reaction, reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei combine to form a larger nuclei, nuclei/neutrons, neutron by-products. The difference in mass between the reactants and products is manifested as either the rele ...
. In reality, only 10,000–20,000 atmospheres were achieved. The American physicist
John R. Huizenga claimed their original calculation was affected by a misinterpretation of the Nernst equation.
He cited a paper about Pd–Zr
alloys
An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which in most cases at least one is a metallic element, although it is also sometimes used for mixtures of elements; herein only metallic alloys are described. Metallic alloys often have properties ...
.
The Nernst equation allows the calculation of the extent of reaction between two
redox
Redox ( , , reduction–oxidation or oxidation–reduction) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of the reactants change. Oxidation is the loss of electrons or an increase in the oxidation state, while reduction is t ...
systems and can be used, for example, to assess whether a particular reaction will go to completion or not. At
chemical equilibrium
In a chemical reaction, chemical equilibrium is the state in which both the Reagent, reactants and Product (chemistry), products are present in concentrations which have no further tendency to change with time, so that there is no observable chan ...
, the
electromotive force
In electromagnetism and electronics, electromotive force (also electromotance, abbreviated emf, denoted \mathcal) is an energy transfer to an electric circuit per unit of electric charge, measured in volts. Devices called electrical ''transducer ...
s (emf) of the two half cells are equal. This allows the
equilibrium constant
The equilibrium constant of a chemical reaction is the value of its reaction quotient at chemical equilibrium, a state approached by a dynamic chemical system after sufficient time has elapsed at which its composition has no measurable tendency ...
of the reaction to be calculated and hence the extent of the reaction.
See also
*
Concentration cell
In battery technology, a concentration cell is a limited form of a galvanic cell that has two equivalent half-cells of the same composition differing only in concentrations. One can calculate the potential developed by such a cell using the Ne ...
*
Dependency of reduction potential on pH
*
Electrode potential
An electrode is an electrical conductor used to make contact with a nonmetallic part of a Electronic circuit, circuit (e.g. a semiconductor, an electrolyte, a vacuum or a gas). In electrochemical cells, electrodes are essential parts that can c ...
*
Galvanic cell
A galvanic cell or voltaic cell, named after the scientists Luigi Galvani and Alessandro Volta, respectively, is an electrochemical cell in which an electric current is generated from spontaneous oxidation–reduction reactions. An example of a ...
*
Goldman equation
The Goldman–Hodgkin–Katz voltage equation, sometimes called the Goldman equation, is used in cell membrane physiology to determine the resting potential across a cell's membrane, taking into account all of the ions that are permeant through ...
*
Membrane potential
Membrane potential (also transmembrane potential or membrane voltage) is the difference in electric potential between the interior and the exterior of a biological cell. It equals the interior potential minus the exterior potential. This is th ...
*
Nernst–Planck equation
*
Pourbaix diagram
In electrochemistry, and more generally in solution chemistry, a Pourbaix diagram, also known as a potential/pH diagram, EH–pH diagram or a pE/pH diagram, is a plot of possible thermodynamically stable phases (''i.e.'', at chemical equilibrium) ...
*
Reduction potential
Redox potential (also known as oxidation / reduction potential, ''ORP'', ''pe'', ''E_'', or E_) is a measure of the tendency of a chemical species to acquire electrons from or lose electrons to an electrode and thereby be reduced or oxidised respe ...
*
Solvated electron
*
Standard electrode potential
In electrochemistry, standard electrode potential E^\ominus, or E^\ominus_, is the electrode potential (a measure of the reducing power of any element or compound) which the IUPAC "Gold Book" defines as ''"the value of the standard emf ( electrom ...
*
Standard electrode potential (data page)
The data below tabulates standard electrode potentials (''E''°), in volts relative to the standard hydrogen electrode (SHE), at:
* Temperature ;
* Effective concentration (activity) 1 mol/L for each aqueous or amalgamated (mercury-allo ...
*
Standard apparent reduction potentials in biochemistry at pH 7 (data page)
References
External links
Nernst/Goldman Equation SimulatorDoITPoMS Teaching and Learning Package- "The Nernst Equation and Pourbaix Diagrams"* {{Cite web, title = 20.5: Gibbs energy and redox reactions, work = Chemistry LibreTexts, accessdate = 2021-12-06, date = 2014-11-18, url = https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/General_Chemistry/Map%3A_Chemistry_-_The_Central_Science_(Brown_et_al.)/20%3A_Electrochemistry/20.5%3A_Gibbs_Energy_and_Redox_Reactions
Walther Nernst
Electrochemical equations
Eponymous equations of physics