Step line tension on a metal electrode.

The step line tension in electrochemical systems differs conceptually from the line tension on metals in the vacuum because it refers to different boundary conditions. A procedure is established for calculating the electrochemical line tension and is applied to a novel model of the interface comprising both a stepped metal electrode and an electrolyte solution. To first order, the potential dependence of the line tension is governed by the energy of the step dipole in the electric field of the space charge in the solution.