Physical electrochemistry in the undergraduate curriculum: A critical assessment

The scope and critical assessment of material covered by various popular textbooks in physical chemistry for undergraduate students in the specific areas of electrochemistry and physical electrochemistry are examined. Some of difficulties encountered by instructors attempting to introduce key aspects of these fields in their curricula are discussed and series of recommendations regarding content authors should consider incorporating in future editions of their textbooks are made. The results of this analysis indicate that thermodynamics was by far the most widely and thoroughly represented including excellent expositions of such topics as Debye Hückel theory, standard redox potentials, and electrochemical cells. An another challenging aspect of the teaching of most science disciplines relates to the ever shorter time instructors have at their disposal to satisfy curricular requirements.