Hydrogen production by plasma electrolysis

Preliminary data from controlled experiments indicate that in plasma electrolysis, metallic electrodes do not have to be immersed in water to produce hydrogen and oxygen as in the case of traditional electrolysis. Instead, the electrodes can interact with water through atmospheric pressure plasmas located between the electrode tips and the water surface. Experiments and spectral analysis of the light emitted by the plasmas as well as mass spectroscopic testing of gases from a region near the negative electrode, clearly indicate that the plasma associated with the negative electrode evolves hydrogen from the water. When a single plasma electrode was used in conjunction with a conventional immersed metal electrode, vigorous bubbling was observed at the immersed electrode. In very broad but fundamental terms, the advantage of this method is that high velocity transport of hydrogen through gas phase plasma-bounding regions (i.e., plasma sheaths) might replace low-speed diffusion through liquid phase that is currently used in conventional electrolysis. This process is likely to increase the rate of generation and collection of hydrogen over those of current electrolysis methods with high potential for integration into fuel cell systems and modular units for augmentation of small-scale power systems for distributed electricity generation.