Electrolytic capacitor Electrolytic capacitor An electrolytic capacitor (abbreviated e-cap) is a polarized capacitor whose anode or positive plate is made of a metal that forms an insulating oxide layer through anodization. This oxide layer acts as the dielectric of the capacitor. A solid, liquid, or gel electrolyte covers the surface of this oxide layer, serving as the (cathode) or negative plate of the capacitor. Due to their very thin dielectric oxide layer and enlarged anode surface, electrolytic capacitors have a much higher capacitance-voltage (CV) product per unit volume compared to ceramic capacitors or film capacitors, and so can have large capacitance values.
Electrochemical cell more positive oxidation state the more potential this reaction will provide. Likewise, in the reduction reaction, the closer the equilibrium lies to the ion/atom with the more "negative" oxidation state the higher the potential. The cell potential can be predicted through the use of electrode potentials (the voltages of each half-cell). These half-cell potentials are defined relative to the assignment of 0 volts to the standard hydrogen electrode (SHE). (See table of standard electrode potentials). The difference in voltage between electrode potentials gives a prediction for the potential measured. When calculating the difference in voltage, one must first rewrite the