Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!watcgl!awpaeth
From: awpaeth@watcgl.waterloo.edu (Alan Wm Paeth)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics
Subject: Caution: electolysis of water
Message-ID: <7395@watcgl.waterloo.edu>
Date: 19 Dec 88 17:56:53 GMT
References: <2479@ddsw1.MCS.COM> <849@inuxm.UUCP>
Reply-To: awpaeth@watcgl.waterloo.edu (Alan Wm Paeth)
Organization: U. of Waterloo, Ontario
Lines: 22

In article <849@inuxm.UUCP> micl23@inuxm.UUCP (W E Miller) writes:
>> 
>> How do I use electricity (from a battery-6V lantern type) to separate
>> water into hydrogen and oxygen?  Please E-Mail me.  P.S. don't flame me,
>> this was the only place I could think of posting to..

I used to use a sawed-off Purex bottle with a Copper (tubing) electrode and a
Zinc bar, both wired to an old Selenium stack auto battery charger. I suppose
graphite electrodes would have been fine.

The caution: avoid poisonous Chlorine gas.

There is a strong temptation to table add salt to decrease the resistivity of
the solution. Problem is that with NaCl in solution the anode (+terminal) frees
both O-- Oxygen ions as gas AND CHLORINE Cl- ions (a problem related to half-
cell potentials). Most of the latter returns to solution yielding a HCL/HOCL
concoction resembling bleach, there can also be some nascent Chlorine left
around. The suggested fix: use a Carbonate salt (eg, baking or washing soda).

     /Alan Paeth
     Computer Graphics Laboratory
     University of Waterloo