New models for the structure of the electrochemical interface

Recent progress in the development of models for the structure of the electrochemical interface and their application to capacitance and electrosorption is surveyed. This model of the structure of the double layer includes, for the first time, explicit contributions from the solvent and electronic structure and gives an excellent description of the interfacial capacitance with at most one parameter. The model of electrosorption provides, for the first time, a microscopic definition of the notion of "partial charge transfer," showing the dependence of this quantity on the relevant microscopic parameters. Our review closes with a discussion of the first quantum model of the surface states in a semiconductor/molten salt interface. © 1986.