Electrochemistry
Electrochemistry, the branch of chemistry concerned with the relationship between electricity and chemical changes. It deals both with chemical reactions that produce electricity and with the application of electricity to produce chemical reactions. The production of chemical changes in a substance by passing an electric current through it is called electrolysis.
An electric battery is able to produce an electric current because of the electrochemical reactions that take place within it. Electrolysis is used in a variety of industrial processes, including electroplating, the extraction of metals from ores, the refining of metals, and the production of such elements as chlorine and magnesium.
The corrosion of metals is a naturally occurring electrochemical process. Natural electrochemical processes also take place in the body, as in the transmission of nerve impulses.