why does reduction always happens at the cathode in electrolysis
1 In a recharging battery, or an electrolytic cell performing electrolysis, the cathode is the negative terminal, from which current exits the device and returns to the external generator.he flow of electrons is almost always from anode to cathode outside of the cell or device, regardless of the cell or device type and operating mode. An exception is when a diode reverse-conducts, either by accident (breakdown of a normal diode) or by design (breakdown of a Zener diode, photo-current of a photodiode).