{"term":{"id":"01722","title":"diffusion current","longtitle":"IUPAC Gold Book - diffusion current","doi":"10.1351\/goldbook.D01722","code":"D01722","status":"current","synonym":"<em>synonym<\/em>: diffusion-controlled current","definitions":[{"id":1,"text":"A faradaic current whose magnitude is controlled by the rate at which a reactant in an electrochemical process diffuses toward an electrode-solution interface (and, sometimes, by the rate at which a product diffuses away from that interface). For the reaction mechanism  there are two common situations in which a diffusion current can be observed. In one, the rate of formation of B from electroinactive C is small and the current is governed by the rate of diffusion of B toward the electrode surface. In the other, C predominates at equilibrium in the bulk of the solution, but its transformation into B is fast; C diffuses to the vicinity of the electrode surface and is there rapidly converted into B, which is reduced.","links":[{"term":"diffusion","url":"https:\/\/goldbook.iupac.org\/\/terms\/view\/D01716"},{"term":"faradaic current","url":"https:\/\/goldbook.iupac.org\/\/terms\/view\/F02321"},{"term":"interface","url":"https:\/\/goldbook.iupac.org\/\/terms\/view\/I03082"},{"term":"reaction mechanism","url":"https:\/\/goldbook.iupac.org\/\/terms\/view\/M03804"},{"term":"transformation","url":"https:\/\/goldbook.iupac.org\/\/terms\/view\/T06446"}],"sources":["PAC, 1985, 57, 1491. 'Recommended terms, symbols, and definitions for electroanalytical chemistry (Recommendations 1985)' on page 1495 (https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1351\/pac198557101491)"]}],"altoutputs":{"html":"https:\/\/goldbook.iupac.org\/terms\/view\/D01722\/html","xml":"https:\/\/goldbook.iupac.org\/terms\/view\/D01722\/xml","plain":"https:\/\/goldbook.iupac.org\/terms\/view\/D01722\/plain"},"citation":"Citation: 'diffusion current' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351\/goldbook.D01722","license":"The IUPAC Gold Book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA 4.0 International (https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/) for individual terms.","collection":"If you are interested in licensing the Gold Book for commercial use, please contact the IUPAC Executive Director at executivedirector@iupac.org .","disclaimer":"The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.","accessed":"2026-05-11T21:50:07+00:00"}}