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Electrochemistry Encyclopedia --- Electrolytic capacitors |
 | | Electrolytic capacitors are capacitors in which one or both of the "plates" is a non-metallic conductive substance, an electrolyte. |
 | | Electrolytes have lower conductivity than metals, so are only used in capacitors when metallic plate is not practical, such as when the dielectric surface is fragile or rough in shape or when ionic current is required to maintain the dielectric integrity. |
 | | The disadvantage of electrolytic capacitors is the non-ideal, lossy characteristics which arise from the semiconductive oxide properties, double-layer effects from the electrolyte-oxide charge-space region, resistive losses from the high electrolyte resistivity, frequency response rolloff due to the roughness of the surface oxide, and finite capacitor life due to breakdown and degradation of the electrolyte. |
| electrochem.cwru.edu /ed/encycl/art-c04-electr-cap.htm (5009 words) |