• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.211-219
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• 2004

A classical Lippmann equation valid for liquid electrodes can not describe the interfacial properties of solid electrodes due to the elastic surface strain on solid electrodes. Although there have been many attempts to derive the thermodynamic equations for solid electrodes Outing the past few decades, their validity has been still questioned by many researchers. In practice, although there are various experimental techniques to measure surface energy of solid electrodes, the results obtained by each technique are rather inconsistent due to the complexity of the surface strain on solid electrodes. This article covers these controversial issues in surface energy of solid electrodes. After giving brief summaries of the definition of the important thermodynamic parameters and the derivation of the thermodynamic equations for solid electrodes, the several experimental methods were introduced for the measurement of surface energy of solid electrodes. And then we discussed in detail the inconsistent results in the measurement of the potential of zero charge (pac) and the potential of electrocapillary maximum (ecm).