THE CRANK-NICOLSON TECHNIQUE - AN EFFICIENT ALGORITHM FOR THE SIMULATION OF ELECTRODE PROCESSES AT MACROELECTRODES AND MICROELECTRODES

The basic concepts of a simulation program for electrochemical problems using the Crank-Nicolson technique are developed. The algorithm allows the inclusion of homogeneous reactions and the effect of uncompensated cell resistance and double-layer capacity in parallel. A general model is derived for most electrode geometries, which may be described by a one-dimensional grid. The technique is applied to simulations of cyclic voltammograms involving pure charge transfer and coupled chemical reactions, at planar and spherical (micro)electrodes, for multi-species systems, finite diffusion problems, IR drop phenomena and even multi-sweep experiments.