As far as I can gather, electrolysing water is a method of separating the alkaline portion from the acid, the alkaline being good for health, and the acid good as an antiseptic and disinfective.
It will not work in pure water, as the impurities are required for a current to flow and to transport the hydroxyl an hydronium ions to the respective electrodes. The electrodes in these machines are required to be inert (for fear of fouling the water) and are mostly platinised s/steel, titanium, or sintered carbon I believe. One could make one by immersing an earthenware pot in a s/steel pot, the cathode being placed in the earthenware pot (attracts mineral ions and the associated hydroxyl ions - alkaline) and the anode in the s/steel outer. If the idea is just to kill organisms in the water then an AC current may be preferred as this will lessen the fouling of the electrodes, otherwise a DC current must be used. Limiting the voltage will limit the production H2 and O2 gasses at the electrodes. I would be reluctant to use s/steel as an anode, as there is the potential to release unwanted metallic ions into the water. Cheers Ivan. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dean T. Miller" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, 4 September 2000 13:36 Subject: CS>Electrodes > On Sun, 3 Sep 2000 09:18:15 EDT, [email protected] wrote: > > >Let me conclude by launching a trial balloon to prove my point. Recently, we > >had a discussion about the medicinal properties of "electrolyzed water," and > >someone brought up the point that the type of electrode used to electrolyze > >the water (silver, for example) may have contributed to its medicinal > >benefits. Well, why not electrolyze water at different voltages (both AC and > >DC) using relatively pure carbon electrodes? This way the ordering of the > >water molecules (which, presumably, is responsible for the water's beneficial > >effects) can be studied while excluding the presence of any metal colloids or > >ions. I don't believe the small amount of carbonic acid produced should > >obscure the results, but if it does, I'll bet using gold electrodes at modest > >voltages would work as well. I'll await the response of the silver list to > >see if I'm correct about the lack of interest to do research. Roger > > I've been trying to figure out what electrode material will > electrolyze water without adding something to the water. So far, I'm > clueless (well, some say that's my normal state:) > > As far as I know, all metal electrodes will sputter in distilled water > (when DC is applied across the electrodes). And non-metallic > conductors will produce various chemical compounds. > > Are there any electrochemists around that can suggest some material to > use? > > -- Dean -- from (almost) Duh Moyn (CDP, KB0ZDF) > > -- The silver-list is a moderated forum for discussion of colloidal silver. To join or quit silver-list or silver-digest send an e-mail message to: [email protected] -or- [email protected] with the word subscribe or unsubscribe in the SUBJECT line. To post, address your message to: [email protected] Silver-list archive: http://escribe.com/health/thesilverlist/index.html List maintainer: Mike Devour <[email protected]>
