Faradaic efficiencies less than 100% during electrolysis of water can account for reports of excess heat in `cold fusion` cells

Journal Article · Thu May 04 04:00:00 EDT 1995 · Journal of Physical Chemistry

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/j100018a033· OSTI ID:50477

Jones, J E; Hansen, L D; Jones, S E; Shelton, D S; Thorne, J M ^[1]

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1. Brigham Young Univ., Provo, UT (United States)

The purpose of this study is to evaluate claims of excess heat generation during water electrolysis. Several cells were constructed and operated similarly to low-current-density cells described in the literature. All produced excess heat as defined and calculated in the literature reports, but the production of excess heat could be readily terminated by the introduction of various barriers to the migration of hydrogen and oxygen. Remarkably, published reports of excess heat fail to disprove the presence of decreased faradaic efficiency (e.g., current that oxidizes H{sub 2} or reduces O{sub 2}) or systematic calorimetric errors. Illustrative examples of both problems are given. Thus, failure to rule out prosaic explanations probably invalidates all the currently available reports of excess heat in both light water-Ni/Pt and heavy water-Pd/Pt cells. There is no compelling evidence that excess heat is of a nuclear origin in such electrolytic cells. 20 refs., 6 figs., 1 tab.

• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• OSTI ID: 50477
• Journal Information: Journal of Physical Chemistry, Journal Name: Journal of Physical Chemistry Journal Issue: 18 Vol. 99; ISSN JPCHAX; ISSN 0022-3654
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

40 CHEMISTRY
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
CALORIMETRY
COLD FUSION
CURRENT DENSITY
ELECTROLYSIS
ELECTROLYTIC CELLS
ENTHALPY
FARADAY CURRENT
HEAT
HYDROGEN
MASS TRANSFER
NUCLEAR ENERGY
OXYGEN
WATER