As far as Finlay's statement that "There are no charges flowing through the solution." I would qualify it by saying that there are no electrons flowing thru the solution, but for a simple electrolyte such as NaCl, the NaCl dissociates into Na+1 and Cl-1 ions in solution and they *are* influenced by the E-flds within the electrolyte. I have done considerable RF/microwave measurements of the electrical properties of electrolytic solutions in our noninvasive glucose technology, and there most certainly is an E-fld present, but again, this is an AC system, not DC.
-mark From: Finlay MacNab [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, July 03, 2012 1:45 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [Vo]:SPAWAR has yet to respond re simple error in claims of effects of external high voltage dc fields inside a conducting electrolyte: Rich Murray 2012.03.01 2012.07.02 It should be noted that in an electrolyte the current results from a chemical reaction at the anode and cathode (in this case the generation of hydrogen and oxygen) there are no free charge carriers in the solution itself. The cations and anions are bound together by electrostatic attraction and exist inside cloud quasi organized solvent molecules. Electrolyte ions do organize on the surface of electrodes to screen the electric field at low potentials (most of the voltage drop in an electrochemistry experiment happens within the first nanometer of the electrode surface). At the high fields quoted in the linked paper, I cannot imagine how the electrolyte could screen the applied field. It seems reasonable to me that an electric field could exist inside the cell, since electrolytes do not have free charges that can migrate to the surface of the dielectric. Electrolytes do not conduct electrons, they accept electrons and donate electrons. There are no charges flowing through the solution, just reactions at the electrode surface. Now I must get back to my electrodeposition experiment.
