Investigation of water electrolysis by spectral analysis. I. Influence of the current density
Abstract
The potential (or current) fluctuations observed under current (or potential) control during gas evolution were analysed by spectral analysis. The power spectral densities (psd) of these fluctuations were measured for hydrogen and oxygen evolution in acid and alkaline solutions at a platinum disk electrode of small diameter. Using a theoretical model, some parameters of the gas evolution were derived from the measured psd of the potential fluctuations, such as the average number of detached bubbles per time unit, the average radius of the detached bubbles and the gas evolution efficiency. The influence of the electrolysis current on these parameters was also investigated. The results of this first attempt at parameter derivation are discussed.