But Robin, that's exactly the point. Unless you reduce the potassium ions to metal, at least temporarily, you will achieve no concentration of potassium ions at the cathode any higher than that of the whole of the electrolyte. Otherwise, as far as I can see, no manipulation of voltage, current density, electrolyte concentration, temperature, etc., will achieve your goal.
You might try something like those experiments where they use a high enough voltage to cause arcing between the cathode and the electrolyte, but I suspect this isn't what you have in mind. Say, isn't Ed Storms an electrochemist? Maybe he could help out a bit here. How about it Ed? M. ===================================================== --- On Sun 01/30, Robin van Spaandonk < [EMAIL PROTECTED] > wrote: Hi Michael, [snip] > >It's pretty simple. The potassium metal created at the >interface between the electrolyte and the Hg cathode is >amalgamated and drops below the suface where it is >protected from oxidation. Thanks, but the point isn't to create potassium metal. The point is to maximise the production *rate* of potassium atoms, irrespective of how long they last once they have been produced. [snip] _______________________________________________ Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com The most personalized portal on the Web!
