Effects of magnetic field on water electrolysis using foam electrodes

Alkaline water electrolysis using foam electrodes was performed under the influence of a uniform magnetic field. The motivation of doing this work is to combine magnetic field with foam electrode to see if it can get unexpected higher water electrolysis efficiency. The result shows that the energy consumption was reduced by about 3.4% and some unique gas producing properties of foam electrodes were exhibited under the parallel-to-electrode magnetic field. The magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) convection induced by the Lorentz force can accelerate the detachment of bubbles, which are capable to be generated both on the surface and in the interior of foam electrodes simultaneously. Due to the uneven distribution of Lorentz forces, a circulating flow was formed in the electrolyzer, which is special designed to make full use of the circulating flow. The flow scoured the inner space of the foam electrodes so that the void fraction was reduced and the reaction overpotential was decreased. It should be potential to significantly improve the energy efficiency of the hydrogen manufacturing via water electrolysis and provide new ideas for the engineering design of electrolyzer.