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An electrochemical gradient is a gradient of electrochemical potential, usually for an ion that can move across a membrane. The gradient consists of two parts: The chemical gradient, or difference in solute concentration across a membrane. The electrical gradient, or difference in charge across a membrane.
An ion gradient has potential energy and can be used to power chemical reactions when the ions pass through a channel (red). Hydrogen ions, or protons, will diffuse from a region of high proton concentration to a region of lower proton concentration, and an electrochemical concentration gradient of protons across a membrane can be harnessed to ...
The cell membrane, also called the plasma membrane or plasmalemma, is a semipermeable lipid bilayer common to all living cells. It contains a variety of biological molecules, primarily proteins and lipids, which are involved in a vast array of cellular processes.
Excitable cells, or cells that have the unique ability to generate and transduce electrical impulses, employ polarized membranes with highly fluctuant electrochemical gradients. Neurons and muscle fiber cells are the primary examples of excitable cells. Neuronal cells generate electrical signals through activation of voltage-gated ion channels ...
An electrochemical gradient represents a store of energy (potential energy) that can be used to drive a multitude of biological processes such as ATP synthesis, nutrient uptake and action potential formation. [citation needed] In cell respiration, the proton pump uses energy to transport protons from the matrix of the mitochondrion to the inter ...
The free energy released when a higher-energy electron donor and acceptor convert to lower-energy products, while electrons are transferred from a lower to a higher redox potential, is used by the complexes in the electron transport chain to create an electrochemical gradient of ions. It is this electrochemical gradient that drives the ...
In the case of dialysis, the driving concentration gradient in the membrane is reduced. [6] In the case of electromembrane processes, the potential drop in the diffusion boundary layers reduces the gradient of electric potential in the membrane. Lower rate of separation under the same external driving force means increased power consumption.
In electrochemistry, the electrochemical potential of electrons (or any other species) is the total potential, including both the (internal, nonelectrical) chemical potential and the electric potential, and is by definition constant across a device in equilibrium, whereas the chemical potential of electrons is equal to the electrochemical ...