The Butler-Volmer equation describes the current density at an electrode as a function of the overpotential, which is the difference between the actual potential and the equilibrium potential. It is a fundamental equation in electrochemistry that describes the kinetics of electron transfer reactions at an electrode surface.
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A kinetic model for the net electrode current near and away from equilibrium. For a single effective reaction with consistent activities and , . Near equilibrium it gives ; at sufficiently large overpotential one exponential gives the Tafel equation. Multistep reactions can require a different kinetic interpretation.