hide
Free keywords:
Current‐Voltage Curves; Electrochemistry; Neutral Membrane
Abstract:
The legitimacy of the electroneutrality assumption is examined by means of a perturbative approach originally due to MacGillivray. This approach envisages division of the membrane into three regions, a core region and two boundary layers. The Nernst‐Planck‐Poisson equations are solved in each of the three regions and the solutions matched by employing an asymptotic matching principle. This procedure is worked out in detail for a neutral membrane permeable to two ionic species of opposite valencies. A current‐voltage relationship is derived. The question of the core electroneutrality is discussed at length.