An Electrolytic Study of Linear Diffusion of Silver Salts

The theory of diffusion is applied to the case of a single metal salt undergoing electroreduction to the metal, with the diffusion process occurring in a linear column and assuming virtually complete concentration polarization of the cathode. The theoretical current‐time relationship is applied to the diffusion of silver nitrate, silver acetate and silver sulfate and compared with experimental data. A comparison is made between the diffusion of pure silver salt solutions and the diffusion of silver ions in the presence of an excess of an indifferent ionized salt. The effect of an indifferent salt is shown to be analogous to the suppression of the migration current in polarographic current‐voltage curves.