Electrolysis...

Thread Starter

Externet

Joined Nov 29, 2005
2,202
Hi.
This may contain chemistry too.
Water with minerals dissolved and ions in suspension.
Applying an enough DC potential to submerged electrodes, will all the minerals, ions, elements, atoms... migrate and accumulate at the electrodes or some will not ? How does it work ?
This is not about water disassociation into H and O, but for dirty, saline, contaminated water.
 

nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
13,086
Usually when I see a question like this it's in reference to claims made by some 'Green' product. My Scam antenna is ringing.
 

jpanhalt

Joined Jan 18, 2008
11,087
What you seem to be describing is electrophoresis in water. That doesn't work well because heat (both generated and ambient) causes convection currents and mixing; although, there may be changes in relative concentrations near the electrodes. There are 4 ways that I know of to avoid that:
1) Add a gel or other medium to reduce mixing (e.g., paper electrophoresis and gel electrophoresis)
2) Do it in a capillary
3) Do it in zero gravity
4) Magnetically stabilized continuous flow electrophoresis around a drum. The principle was that gravitational acceleration reversed as the fluid revolved around a drum, thus cancelling to a large degree the mixing effects of convection currents.

In zero gravity, convection mixing from heat doesn't occur, so one can successfully do such separations.

Edit:
Kolin, A., and S. J. Luner. "Endless belt electrophoresis." Progress in Separation and Purification 4 (1971): 93-132
https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/46/4/509.full.pdf
The name of the junior author, Luner, has stuck with me all these years as being a bit ironic for the time.
 
Last edited:

Thread Starter

Externet

Joined Nov 29, 2005
2,202
Thanks for educating me with the correct terminology. In other words :
Is there any process to purify water by electrophoresis, periodically, repeatedly cleaning/removing impurities that attach to electrodes ?
 

jpanhalt

Joined Jan 18, 2008
11,087
What your environment? Space with microgravity?

It's a lot easier (based on mass) to distill, use reverse osmosis, or ion exchange. Getting rid of light organics can be done before the other procedures.
 
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