What results from high polarization voltage in a practical aspect?

High polarization voltage typically leads to a situation where the effective current output is reduced. This phenomenon occurs in electrochemical systems when the resistance to current flow increases due to the build-up of overpotential, which is the additional voltage required beyond the thermodynamic potential to drive a reaction at a certain rate.

As the polarization voltage increases, it acts as a barrier that opposes the flow of current. Essentially, when polarization is high, it indicates that the cell is working harder to drive the reactions forward, which means that a significant amount of voltage is being "lost" to overcoming this polarization rather than being used effectively to produce useful electrical energy.

Consequently, the overall current output decreases, as only a portion of the applied voltage contributes to driving the electrochemical reactions instead of maintaining a high current output. This relationship between polarization and current output is crucial in applications such as batteries, fuel cells, and electrolyzers, where maintaining optimal conditions is essential for performance.