Studies on Overvoltage

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Abstract
This paper is a continuation of studies on the platinized platinum electrode in acid solutions saturated with hydrogen. The object was to secure information on the behavior of the electrode as current is passed through it. In all cases the solution was saturated with hydrogen. Data were obtained under four sets of conditions. (1) The electrode was cathodically polarized, then immediately anodically polarized in a still solution. (2) The procedure was the same as (1) except the solution was stirred by a rapid stream of hydrogen. (3) The electrode was anodically polarized, then followed by cathodic polarization in a still solution. (4) The procedure was the same as (3) except the solution was stirred by a rapid stream of hydrogen. The results all support the proposition submitted in previous papers that the electrode phenomena below, at, and above the so‐called reversible value are all the same; and that the potential of the electrode under any of these conditions is determined by the activity of hydrogen atoms and hydrogen ions at the electrode‐solution interface and could be calculated by the regular Nernst equation provided these activities were known. A corollary of the theory is, of course, that hydrogen ions may be discharged at potentials more positive than the so‐called reversible value; also that the activity of the hydrogen atoms, and thus the potential, depends largely upon the material and physical condition of the electrode.

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