This glossary entry is under construction. A conducting medium in which the flow of electric current takes place by migration of ions. Commonly an electrolyte is defined as a substance that when dissolved in a specific solvent, usually polar, like water or ethylene glycol, produces an ionically conducting solution.
Typical electrolytes are solutions of acids, bases, salts, and molten salts.
Molten salts are a special class of electrolytes in which the ions and the solvent are the same species. In an electrolytic capacitor the electrolyte constitutes the second electrode, or plate, separated from the anode, or positive plate by the barrier layer of oxide formed on the anode surface. Top of Page electrolyte, driving An electrolyte is broadly defined as any substance that passes electric current by the transport of ions. Electrolytes may be liquid solutions, fused salts or ionically conducting solids. An electrochemical process is a reaction that occurs across an interface, such as that between an electrolyte and an electrode.