The oxhydroelectric effect consists in the generation of
voltage
Voltage, also known as electric pressure, electric tension, or (electric) potential difference, is the difference in electric potential between two points. In a static electric field, it corresponds to the work needed per unit of charge to m ...
and
electric current
An electric current is a stream of charged particles, such as electrons or ions, moving through an electrical conductor or space. It is measured as the net rate of flow of electric charge through a surface or into a control volume. The moving pa ...
in pure liquid
water
Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...
, without any electrolyte, upon exposure to
electromagnetic radiation
In physics, electromagnetic radiation (EMR) consists of waves of the electromagnetic field, electromagnetic (EM) field, which propagate through space and carry momentum and electromagnetic radiant energy. It includes radio waves, microwaves, inf ...
in the infrared range, after creating a physical (not chemical) asymmetry in liquid water e.g. thanks to a strongly
hydrophile
A hydrophile is a molecule or other molecular entity that is attracted to water molecules and tends to be dissolved by water.Liddell, H.G. & Scott, R. (1940). ''A Greek-English Lexicon'' Oxford: Clarendon Press.
In contrast, hydrophobes are no ...
polymer, such as
Nafion
Nafion is a brand name for a sulfonated tetrafluoroethylene based fluoropolymer-copolymer discovered in the late 1960s by Dr. Walther Grot of DuPont. Nafion is a brand of the Chemours company. It is the first of a class of synthetic polymers with ...
.
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Since the publication of the first seminal research, other independent research has been published, which refer to this effect, in scientific peer reviewed, reputable journals (with
impact factors higher than the median in the respective fields).
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The system can be described as a
photovoltaic cell
A solar cell, or photovoltaic cell, is an electronic device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect, which is a physics, physical and Chemical substance, chemical phenomenon.[semiconductor
A semiconductor is a material which has an electrical resistivity and conductivity, electrical conductivity value falling between that of a electrical conductor, conductor, such as copper, and an insulator (electricity), insulator, such as glas ...]
.
Theoretical model
The model proposed by Roberto Germano and his collaborators, who have first observed the effect
is based on the known concept of the
exclusion zone
An exclusion zone is a territorial division established for various, case-specific purposes.
Per the United States Department of Defense, an exclusion zone is a territory where an authority prohibits specific activities in a specific geographic ...
.
The first observations of a different behaviour of water molecules close to the walls of its container date back to late ‘60s and early ‘70s, when Drost-Hansen, upon reviewing many experimental articles, came to the conclusion that interfacial water shows structural difference with respect to the bulk liquid water.
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In 2006 Gerald Pollack published a seminal work on the exclusion zone
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coherent
Coherence, coherency, or coherent may refer to the following:
Physics
* Coherence (physics), an ideal property of waves that enables stationary (i.e. temporally and spatially constant) interference
* Coherence (units of measurement), a deri ...
water region at the boundary between its surface and the water.
Further elaborating on the work of Pollack, the model describes liquid water as a system made of two phases: a matrix of non-coherent water molecules hosting many “Coherence Domains” (CDs), about 0.1 um in size, found in the exclusion zone, but also in the bulk volume.
In this model the behaviour of the coherence domains is also considered as the cause for the formation of xerosydryle.
The two phases, are characterized by different thermodynamic parameters, and are in a stable non-equilibrium state.
The coherent phase should be described by a
quantum state
In quantum physics, a quantum state is a mathematical entity that provides a probability distribution for the outcomes of each possible measurement on a system. Knowledge of the quantum state together with the rules for the system's evolution in ...
, and in particular a state oscillating between a fundamental state, where electrons are firmly bound (ionization energy of 12.60 eV), and an excited state characterized by a quasi-free electron configuration. The energy of the excited state is 12.06 eV, which means that only a small amount of energy as small as (12.60 - 12.06) eV = 0.54 eV (Infrared range) is sufficient to extract an electron.
Then, at a fixed temperature and for molecules density exceeding a threshold, the transition of the non-coherent water molecules to the coherence state is spontaneous because it is driving the system to a lower energy configuration.
More exactly, the almost free electrons have to cross an energy barrier of (0.54 - Χ) eV, where Χ ~ 0.1 eV is the electric potential difference at the CD boundary with the non-coherent water.
This small amount of energy, ~ 0.44 eV, necessary for the electron extraction, makes the coherent water a reservoir of quasi-free electrons that can be easily released by Infrared stimulation, or quantum tunnel effect or by small external perturbation.
The two water phases, with their different potentials behave as the two components of a photovoltaic cell based on semiconductors.
Then, in the cell described in the patent,
one of the two sectors has sheets of hydrophilic material, which create (more) coherent domains in that sector, with respect to the other sector.
Notes
{{Reflist
Water
Electricity
Surface science