Distinguished Lectureship Award on the Applications of Physics: Induced polarization for subsurface characterization and energy industry experience

There has been substantial interest in applying induced polarization phenomena, including electrode and membrane polarization, to characterize organic contamination and biogeochemical environments. The presence of dispersed electronically conductive grains contributes to electrode polarization, which arises due to the capacitive charging of the Stern Layer at the conductor-electrolyte interface. On the other hand, the membrane polarization is driven by spatial inhomogeneity in the ionic transferences, i.e., the proportion of current carried by the cation vs. the anion. Several phenomenological models have been proposed to understand induced polarization. Here, we developed theoretical frameworks to quantitatively explain electrode and membrane polarization based on insights from experiments on model systems. We obtained quantitative agreement between experiment and theory, not just for characteristic frequencies and amplitudes but for the entire spectral shape of the phase angle between the electric field and current density.