Photo-assisted electrolysis apparatus
First Claim
1. An apparatus for photoelectrolysis comprising:
- a container;
a cathode positioned in said container; and
an anode positioned in said container, said container being operable to allow transmission of light to said cathode from a light source external to said container, said cathode comprising a sheet of conductive metal blacked with a layer of conductive metal disposed on one side of said sheet of conductive metal in a manner such that said layer of conductive metal is operable for both absorbing said light and for acting as a cathodic surface for electrolysis, and said anode being an array of rods positioned adjacent said layer of conductive metal.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and method for performing electrolysis on materials such as water, thereby electrically separating the electrolyte into its elemental components. More specifically, according to a preferred aspect of the instant invention, there is provided an apparatus for splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen that uses a specially prepared cathode in conjunction with incident light energy to increase the efficiency of that process. A preferred embodiment of this apparatus uses the photo collector/cathode which comprises a thin layer of metal, preferably nickel, deposited by electroplating or a similar technique onto a conductive surface (e.g., a sheet of copper metal). During the electrolysis process, the cathode is irradiated with light, thereby reducing the amount of electrical energy necessary to separate a given quantity of electrolytic material.
28 Citations
16 Claims
-
1. An apparatus for photoelectrolysis comprising:
-
a container;
a cathode positioned in said container; and
an anode positioned in said container, said container being operable to allow transmission of light to said cathode from a light source external to said container, said cathode comprising a sheet of conductive metal blacked with a layer of conductive metal disposed on one side of said sheet of conductive metal in a manner such that said layer of conductive metal is operable for both absorbing said light and for acting as a cathodic surface for electrolysis, and said anode being an array of rods positioned adjacent said layer of conductive metal.
-
-
2. An apparatus for photoelectrolysis comprising:
-
a container;
a cathode positioned in said container; and
an anode positioned in said container;
said container being operable to allow transmission of light to said cathode from a light source external to said container, said cathode comprising a sheet of conductive metal blacked with a layer of conductive metal in a manner such that said layer of conductive metal is operable for both absorbing said light and for acting as a cathodic surface for electrolysis, and said sheet of conductive metal being formed in a shape of a partial cylinder having an inside surface and wherein said inside surface has been blacked with said layer of conductive metal. - View Dependent Claims (3)
-
-
4. An apparatus for photo-assisted electrolysis comprising:
-
a cathode effective both for collecting light energy to assist said electrolysis and for acting as an electrode for said electrolysis;
an anode; and
an external electrical power source electrically connected to said cathode and to said anode such that said external electrical power source is effective for establishing an electrical potential between said cathode and said anode. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
-
Specification