Aim of this work is to focus attention on how the concentration polarization, in all electrochemistry applications, is often formulated on the basis of only thermodynamic statements and how it should be written in a kinetic more consistent expression. Moreover, the application of this study to the analysis of molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) behaviour has been discussed with reference to diffusion limited operating conditions. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.