Galvani potential [SEP] named after
Galvani.
Galvani potential between two metals.
First, consider the Galvani potential between two metals. When two metals are electrically isolated from each other, an arbitrary voltage difference may exist between them. However, when two different metals are brought into electronic contact, electrons will flow from the metal with a lower voltage to the metal with the higher voltage until the Fermi level of the electrons in the bulk of both phases are equal. The actual numbers of electrons that passes between the two phases is small (it depends
Galvani potential
Galvani potential (also called Galvani potential difference, or inner potential difference, Δφ, delta phi) in electrochemistry is the electric potential difference between two points in the bulk of two phases. These phases can be two different solids (e.g., two metals joined together), or a solid and a liquid (e.g., a metal electrode submerged in an electrolyte).
Generally, the Galvani potential difference is measurable only when the two phases have identical chemical composition.
The Galvani potential is named after Luigi