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Derivation Of The Diffusion Equation And A Revision Of Matsuda's Theory For Polarography, W. Patrick Rahilly

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many theories have been proposed to yield a current-time relationship in Polarography. The most widely accepted is that of Matsuda. He assumes that the electrolyte can be separated into an inhomogeneous region about the mercury drop and a homogeneous region elsewhere. This assumption leads to a first order , nonlinear, ordinary differential equation directly solvable by substitution of a properly chosen series. But the series solution obtained is only a particular solution; for there exists, as one would expect, a family of solutions depending on a contrast of integration. In the literature, derivation of the diffusion equation has never been …