I have reread the recent notes that Mizuno sent me in English and
Japanese, and I think I misunderstood something he said after
untranslated the initial version of the report. I gather he thinks the
reaction began underwater, which would explain the glow at the base of
the electrode. I think he meant the anode, not the cathode. Here is a
revised paragraph. Mizuno has not okayed this yet, but I think this is
what he has in mind:
The effluent hydrogen and oxygen were mixed in the cell
headspace. (Note that the inverted funnel described in Ref. 1 was not in
use during this experiment.) There were 2 ~ 3 cc of free hydrogen at the
time, although this is an open cell so only minimal amounts of gas remain
in the headspace. Oxygen gas and hydrogen gas were also mixed in with the
electrolyte solution. It is likely that the platinum mesh anode catalyzed
the hydrogen and oxygen to recombine rapidly in the electrolyte,
triggering the explosion in the headspace.
- Jed
