Term: electrocapillary equation https://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.E01942 Definition: A form of the Gibbs adsorption equation which includes an expression of the phenomenon of electrocapillarity: \[s\ \mathrm{d}T- \tau \ \mathrm{d}p+\mathrm{d}\gamma +\sigma ^{\alpha }\ \mathrm{d}E+\sum \mathit{\Gamma }_{j}\ \mathrm{d}\mu _{j}=0\] where s is the surface excess of entropy of unit area of interphase, T is the temperature, τ is the thickness or excess volume of unit area of the interphase, p is the external pressure, γ is the interfacial tension, σ^α is the free surface charge density on phase α (areal amount of charge on the surface of phase α), E is the generalized potential, Γj is the surface excess, µj is the chemical potential and j is an electrically neutral component of one or other of the phases; the sum is over all the components but one in each phase. Related Terms: 1) gibbs adsorption (http://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.G02627). 2) surface excess (http://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.S06171). 3) entropy (http://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.E02149). 4) interphase (http://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.I03118). 5) interfacial tension (http://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.I03088). 6) surface charge density (http://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.S06159). 7) chemical potential (http://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.C01032). 8) electrocapillarity (http://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.E01941). Source: PAC, 1986, 58, 437. 'Interphases in systems of conducting phases (Recommendations 1985)' on page 446 (https://doi.org/10.1351/pac198658030437) Citation: 'electrocapillary equation' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.E01942 License: The IUPAC Gold Book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) for individual terms. Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.