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Fundamentals of electrochemistry
226
Book review
with a classification of this technology. In addition, a useful overview of demonstration projects which use electrolytically produced hydrogen in solar, wind and other hydro-energy devices is given. The extensive treatment of hydrogen-based electrochemical systems for energy conversion in this chapter is among the best available. This book continues the tradition of the series in providing good quality reviews in pure and applied aspects of
electrochemistry. The material deserves to be read not only by electrochemists but also by electrochemical engineers, materials technologists, chemical engineers, corrosion scientists, and research workers in the field of energy conversion.
V.S. Bagotzky, Fundamentals of Electrochemistry, Plenum, New York 1993, xviii + 589, price £ 92.
h e / s h e has a clear understanding of the basis of the subject as it existed a few decades ago. This is an essential part of an electrochemist's education, but he/she would have to go elsewhere to be excited by recent developments. Unfortunately, Professor Bagotzky does not provide much help about where to look. There is a list of books and journals, but no information about what they contain other than the title. A particular area which is almost completely absent is the direct in situ study of the interface at a molecular level, which has seen such an extraordinary growth in the last two decades. There is a short paragraph on page 316 about optical methods (unspecified). Even more surprising is chapter 14 on the elementary act. This problem is discussed in the framework of the potential energy curves introduced by Horiuti and Polanyi in 1935. This is certainly a good way to give a simple picture of the meaning of the transfer coefficient, but to make no mention of the Hush-Marcus-Levich treatment of simple electron transfer reactions is surely to make this chapter seriously inadequate. However, the treatments actually included are accurate and misprint-free throughout the book. The only serious error noted is the identification of the kinetic energy of electrons in a metal (Eq. 1.14) with the chemical potential of the electrons. This is inconsistent with the definition of chemical potential as well as with Eq. 2.32. However, this is corrected much later in the book on pages 521-523. The translation by Klaus Mfiller is excellent and the book is well produced, although the subject index is skimpy. There is also an author index whose notable omissions epitomise the flavour of the book: Gerischer, Lorenz, Marcus, Beer, Baizer, Budevskii, Bard, Bewick, Fleischmann, Hubbard. With these reservations, Professor Bagotzky's book can be recommended strongly to a serious student of electrochemistry.
There has been a revival of interest in textbooks of electrochemistry in the last few years, but most have concentrated on electrochemical kinetics, a part of the subject which was treated poorly in books of an earlier generation. This book aims at a balanced account of the basic ideas of electrochemistry as a whole. As such, the recent book which is most similar to it in coverage is Jiri Koryta's Principles of Electrochemistry. However, that follows the classical form of exposition, despite introducing a good proportion of modem material. Professor Bagotsky adopts a more original plan: his book is divided into four main sections; 1. Basic concepts, 2. Properties of electrolytes and interfaces, 3. Electrochemical kinetics, 4. Scientific principles of applied electrochemistry. The nine chapters of part 1 include electrical and thermodynamic fundamentals, but emphasise the kinetic behaviour of electrodes. Liquid junctions of miscible and immiscible liquids are discussed here although part 2 covers the electrical double layer at various types of electrodes, together with electrolytes of the conventional type as well as polymer and solid electrolytes. The three chapters of part 3 extend the treatment of electrode reactions to multistep reactions, the elementary electrochemical process and reactions involving formation of a new phase. Part 4 begins with a general summary of the ways in which electrochemistry is applied in practice. The following six chapters discuss particular areas: Reactions involving metals and other solids; Reactions at non-consumable electrodes; Analytical methods; Photoelectrochemistry; Electrokinetics; Bioelectrochemistry. As implied by the title of this part, there is quite a lot of basic information here together with the description of the applications. The material is presented with care and with clear physical explanation of the principles. It would be an excellent text for a student who wants to be sure that
F. WALSH Portsmouth
ROGER PARSONS Southampton
Book review
with a classification of this technology. In addition, a useful overview of demonstration projects which use electrolytically produced hydrogen in solar, wind and other hydro-energy devices is given. The extensive treatment of hydrogen-based electrochemical systems for energy conversion in this chapter is among the best available. This book continues the tradition of the series in providing good quality reviews in pure and applied aspects of
electrochemistry. The material deserves to be read not only by electrochemists but also by electrochemical engineers, materials technologists, chemical engineers, corrosion scientists, and research workers in the field of energy conversion.
V.S. Bagotzky, Fundamentals of Electrochemistry, Plenum, New York 1993, xviii + 589, price £ 92.
h e / s h e has a clear understanding of the basis of the subject as it existed a few decades ago. This is an essential part of an electrochemist's education, but he/she would have to go elsewhere to be excited by recent developments. Unfortunately, Professor Bagotzky does not provide much help about where to look. There is a list of books and journals, but no information about what they contain other than the title. A particular area which is almost completely absent is the direct in situ study of the interface at a molecular level, which has seen such an extraordinary growth in the last two decades. There is a short paragraph on page 316 about optical methods (unspecified). Even more surprising is chapter 14 on the elementary act. This problem is discussed in the framework of the potential energy curves introduced by Horiuti and Polanyi in 1935. This is certainly a good way to give a simple picture of the meaning of the transfer coefficient, but to make no mention of the Hush-Marcus-Levich treatment of simple electron transfer reactions is surely to make this chapter seriously inadequate. However, the treatments actually included are accurate and misprint-free throughout the book. The only serious error noted is the identification of the kinetic energy of electrons in a metal (Eq. 1.14) with the chemical potential of the electrons. This is inconsistent with the definition of chemical potential as well as with Eq. 2.32. However, this is corrected much later in the book on pages 521-523. The translation by Klaus Mfiller is excellent and the book is well produced, although the subject index is skimpy. There is also an author index whose notable omissions epitomise the flavour of the book: Gerischer, Lorenz, Marcus, Beer, Baizer, Budevskii, Bard, Bewick, Fleischmann, Hubbard. With these reservations, Professor Bagotzky's book can be recommended strongly to a serious student of electrochemistry.
There has been a revival of interest in textbooks of electrochemistry in the last few years, but most have concentrated on electrochemical kinetics, a part of the subject which was treated poorly in books of an earlier generation. This book aims at a balanced account of the basic ideas of electrochemistry as a whole. As such, the recent book which is most similar to it in coverage is Jiri Koryta's Principles of Electrochemistry. However, that follows the classical form of exposition, despite introducing a good proportion of modem material. Professor Bagotsky adopts a more original plan: his book is divided into four main sections; 1. Basic concepts, 2. Properties of electrolytes and interfaces, 3. Electrochemical kinetics, 4. Scientific principles of applied electrochemistry. The nine chapters of part 1 include electrical and thermodynamic fundamentals, but emphasise the kinetic behaviour of electrodes. Liquid junctions of miscible and immiscible liquids are discussed here although part 2 covers the electrical double layer at various types of electrodes, together with electrolytes of the conventional type as well as polymer and solid electrolytes. The three chapters of part 3 extend the treatment of electrode reactions to multistep reactions, the elementary electrochemical process and reactions involving formation of a new phase. Part 4 begins with a general summary of the ways in which electrochemistry is applied in practice. The following six chapters discuss particular areas: Reactions involving metals and other solids; Reactions at non-consumable electrodes; Analytical methods; Photoelectrochemistry; Electrokinetics; Bioelectrochemistry. As implied by the title of this part, there is quite a lot of basic information here together with the description of the applications. The material is presented with care and with clear physical explanation of the principles. It would be an excellent text for a student who wants to be sure that
F. WALSH Portsmouth
ROGER PARSONS Southampton