The spontaneous Auto-ionization of water H2O <---> H+ + OH-
or 2 H2O <---> H3O+ + OH- releases 80 kJ per mole of ions
formed (about ions 2 per billion at room temp) :
The Gibbs Free Energy "hurdle" is illustrated in Section 4 of the
Gibbs Free Energy Tutorial of this URL:
Add these exotherms to the 1,000 kJ/mole of exothermic solvation-hydration
of Ions and Electrons in water bred by the proper conditioning of the water to create
the enormous quantities of dissolved-hydrated Ions and Electrons in about
250 moles of water in the Joe Cell, (a few hours/days at milliampere currents plus a small
"overnight bias voltage/current" to offset self recombination) then adding enough
excitation/heat to de-hydrate them so tat they can recombine and...BAM.
Fred
