Question

A student needs to calculate the efficiency of an electrochemical cell that has a potential difference of 1.5 volts and a current of 0.5 amperes passing through it, with the help of Faraday's Law. If the electrode reaction produces chlorine gas with a Faraday efficiency of 79%, and the overall voltage efficiency of the cell is 85%, what is the efficiency of the electrochemical cell?

Answer 1

To calculate the efficiency of the electrochemical cell, we need to consider both the Faraday efficiency and the voltage efficiency.Faraday efficiency  FE  is the efficiency with which charge is transferred in a system facilitating an electrochemical reaction. In this case, the Faraday efficiency is 79%.Voltage efficiency  VE  is the efficiency with which the potential difference  voltage  is utilized in the electrochemical cell. In this case, the voltage efficiency is 85%.The overall efficiency of the electrochemical cell can be calculated by multiplying the Faraday efficiency and the voltage efficiency:Efficiency = Faraday Efficiency  Voltage EfficiencyEfficiency = 0.79  0.85Efficiency = 0.6715 or 67.15%So, the efficiency of the electrochemical cell is 67.15%.