Virtual thermodynamic potential

Abstract

Abstract by author: Electrochemistry started from the development of new sources of energy by Volta 200 hundred years ago. Still today this is a most urgent problem to solve for our civilisation to survive. Theory of electrolysis, production of new materials with well-defined properties by use of electricity, was developed by Faraday about 150 years ago. It is practiced on large industrial scale all over the world and the development of new materials with well-defined properties is still of highest priority to us. The above represents kinetics, dynamic physical and electrochemical processes.

Why we are still struggling with new sources of energy today? One can blame Nernst for that whose thermodynamic ideas dominated science for over a century. Till today we have two streams of activities in Physical Chemistry, thermodynamics and kinetics. They seem to have no obvious link and are discussed in separate chapters in the textbooks.

A new concept of virtual potential will be presented and some of its applications will be presented. VP is a result of mathematical transformation of kinetic, non-equilibrium data into type of data the Nernst equation (thermodynamics, equilibrium chemistry) can handle. VP is the first and mathematically described link in electrochemistry between thermodynamics and kinetics.