Faraday formulated the laws of electrolysis, which quantify the relationship between the amount of substance produced during electrolysis and the amount of electricity passed through the electrolytic cell. These laws are fundamental to electrochemistry.

To better describe electrochemical processes, Faraday introduced new terms such as 'electrode', 'electrolyte', 'anode', 'cathode', 'ion', and 'electrolysis', which are still used today.