EFFECT OF IMPURITY ION ADSORPTION ON REACTANT TRANSFER PROCESSES IN ELECTROCHEMICAL SYSTEMS.

A theory for the transfer of electrochemically active ions by diffusion and migration from the bulk of the solution to the metal/solution interface has been developed for conditions where specifically adsorbed charge of a given density is present at the interface. An expression for the limiting ionic mass flow was obtained which corresponds to an infinitely high rate of the electrochemical process and which takes into account the discrete nature of charge, both of the reactant species and of the specifically adsorbed species. The contribution to the macroscopic rate of ionic mass transfer to the interface arising from the discreteness of the adsorbed impurity ions was estimated.