Electrode electrode. In a vacuum tube or a semiconductor having polarity (diodes, electrolytic capacitors) the anode is the positive (+) electrode and the cathode the negative (−). The electrons enter the device through the cathode and exit the device through the anode. Many devices have other electrodes to control operation, e.g., base, gate, control grid. In a three-electrode cell, a counter electrode, also called an auxiliary electrode, is used only to make a connection to the electrolyte so that a current can be applied to the working electrode. The counter electrode is usually made of an inert material, such as a
Concentration polarization Concentration polarization Concentration polarization is a term used in the scientific fields of electrochemistry and membrane science. In electrochemistry, concentration polarization denotes the part of the polarization of an electrolytic cell resulting from changes in the electrolyte concentration due to the passage of current through the electrode/solution interface. Here "polarization" is understood as the shift of the Electrochemical potential difference across the cell from its equilibrium value. When the term is used in this sense, it is equivalent to “concentration overpotential”. the changes in concentration (emergence of concentration gradients in the solution adjacent to the electrode surface) is the difference