Membrane‐Covered Oxygen Sensors: An Exact Treatment of the Switch‐on Transient

Abstract

Equations are derived that exactly describe the current‐time behavior of a membrane‐covered oxygen sensor, following the imposition of a polarizing potential to the previously equilibrated cell. The role of the various geometric, transport, and solubility factors is evaluated without any restriction being placed upon the magnitudes of these factors. The equations are analyzed to predict the duration of cottrellian behavior, and the interval before the onset of the steady state, for sensors of practical importance.