The Effect of Bubbles Attached to an Electrode on Electrical Resistance and Dissolved Gas Concentration
Abstract
When a process of electrolysis results in the evolution of gas, the gas forms bubbles at nucleation sites on one or both electrodes. These bubbles grow and eventually detach themselves. It is important to know what effect the bubbles will have on the voltage of the electrolytic cell because of the high cost of electrical power. Although the free bubbles have been much studied, the attached bubbles have not. Here the additional resistance due to the attached bubbles is calculated by means of an asymptotic method which is valid (roughly speaking) when the bubbles are widely spaced and the mean spacing is small compared with the inter-electrode gap. A similar method is used to calculate the degree of supersaturation of the dissolved gas; this is of interest because it influences the reversible voltage of the cell.
- Publication:
-
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series A
- Pub Date:
- May 1983
- DOI:
- 10.1098/rspa.1983.0054
- Bibcode:
- 1983RSPSA.387..133W