Louis Georges Gouy in 1910 and David Leonard Chapman in 1913 both observed that capacitance was not a constant and that it depended on the applied potential and the ionic concentration. The "Gouy–Chapman model" made significant improvements by introducing a diffuse model of the DL. In this model, the charge distribution of ions as a function of distance from the metal surface allows Maxwell–Boltzmann statistics to be applied. Thus the electric potential decreases exponentially away from the surface of the fluid bulk.
Gouy-Chapman layers may bear special relevance in bioelectrochemistry. The observation of long-distance inter-protein electron transfer through the aqueous solution has been attributed to a diffuse region between redox partner proteins (cytochromes c and c) that is depleted of cations in comparison to the solution bulk, thereby leading to reduced screening, electric fields extending several nanometers, and currents decreasing quasi exponentially with the distance at rate ~1 nm. This region is termed "Gouy-Chapman conduit" and is strongly regulated by phosphorylation, which adds one negative charge to the protein surface that disrupts cationic depletion and prevents long-distance charge transport. Similar effects are observed at the redox active site of photosynthetic complexes.