Electrokinetics and Electrochemistry:Differences, Overlaps and Applications in Chemical Engineering

With the advancement of chemical engineering in new fields, including micro/nanostructured technologies, changes must be made in the teachings of chemical engineers. Chemical engineers in many cases deal with systems having very high surface to volume ratios. In such systems, surface properties and surface forces are very important. Among the phenomena that are prominent in such systems, we can mention electrokinetic phenomena. Understanding these phenomena seems inevitable not only for controlling processes, but also for modeling, interpreting results, designing and operating systems. In addition, systems studying the transfer of charged species are of great importance in the field of electrochemical and electrokinetic engineering. This indicates the need for chemical engineers to be familiar with electrokinetics and its common boundary with electrochemistry. These two branches of knowledge interact and overlap in many areas, such as fuel cells, membrane systems, reverse electrodialysis, and many other new areas. Therefore, in order to obtain valid results from their research, chemical engineers must have full insight into both of these phenomena and know their commonalities and differences. In this research, while introducing electrochemical and electrokinetic phenomena, the applications of these phenomena in chemical engineering have been expressed and also cases of overlap between the two have been discussed. Discussion about the commonalities and differences between electrokinetic and electrochemical phenomena in the design and management of chemical processes is another valuable issue that is addressed in this article.

کلیدواژه ها:

Electrochemistry ، Chemical engineering ، Electrokinetics ، Electrostatics ، Surface phenomena.