In electrochemistry, partial current is defined as the electric current associated with (anodic or cathodic) half of the electrode reaction.
Depending on the electrode half-reaction, one can distinguish two types of partial current: The cathodic and anodic partial currents are defined by IUPAC.
[1] The partial current densities (ic and ia) are the ratios of partial currents respect to the electrode areas (Ac and Aa): The sum of the cathodic partial current density ic (positive) and the anodic partial current density ia (negative) gives the net current density i:[2] In the case of the cathodic partial current density being equal to the anodic partial current density (for example, in a corrosion process[3]), the net current density on the electrode is zero:[2] When more than one reaction occur on an electrode simultaneously, then the total electrode current can be expressed as:[1] where the index
refers to the particular reactions.
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