An interesting experiment in electrolysis

[vineet_kiran]

 
Any thoughts on this experiment?

[profitis]

yeah..the caustic soda that rapidly forms at the cathode and hypochlorous acid that forms at the anode both chow the wood up and dissolve it into solution in the same way that they would chow human skin up

[profitis]

if the guy uses concrete or plastic then its probably some capacitance forming across it which then splits water..

[vineet_kiran]

if the guy uses concrete or plastic then its probably some capacitance forming across it which then splits water..

Thanks for the reply.   That's what makes it interesting.  Even if you keep a glass or plastic material between the electrodes, the ions react among themselves on glass/plastic surface releasing gases.

Usually ions donot react among themselves.  They react only with metals or any other dissolvable materials.

By developing this method if it is made possible that the ions react among themselves in a large scale, will it not be a easy method of releasing hydrogen from water in large scale and at reduced power consumption?

[profitis]

could be.we would have to do the gas volume/coulombs/voltage measurements of course.but remember there will be increased resistance between the electrodes if you restrict ionic flow.also, the ph will dramaticaly increase at the cathode and decrease at the anode with the diffusion restriction blockage requiring more voltage input over time unless its done slowly.its better to use just plain caustic soda in solution as the electrolyte to avoid dramatic ph shifts and to avoid nasty chlorine gas at the anode.but i have a question that i would like to ask you kiran:what would happen if we place an electret into saltwater?? The static voltage would be there,the electrons might be supplied by electrolyte itself in eddies? Would gas bubbles be visible on an electret?