Electrolytic capacitor to a smooth surface of the same area or the same volume. By applying a positive voltage to the above-mentioned anode material in an electrolytic bath an oxide barrier layer with a thickness corresponding to the applied voltage will be formed (formation). This oxide layer acts as dielectric in an electrolytic capacitor. The properties of this oxide layers are given in the following table: After forming a dielectric oxide on the rough anode structure, a counter electrode has to match the rough insulating oxide surface. This is accomplished by the electrolyte, which acts as the cathode electrode of an electrolytic
Standard electrode potential potentials are independent of the number of electrons transferred —they are expressed in volts, which measure energy per electron transferred—and so the two electrode potentials can be simply combined to give the overall "cell" potential even if different numbers of electrons are involved in the two electrode reactions. For practical measurements, the electrode in question is connected to the positive terminal of the electrometer, while SHE is connected to the negative terminal. The larger the value of the standard reduction potentials, the easier it is for the element to be reduced (accept electrons); in other words, they are better oxidizing