HOW TO EXTRACT HYDROGEN FROM WATER BY ELECTROLYSIS AT HOME

Materials

• DC powers source
• Pencil / stainless steel
• Copper wire
• Plastic bottle
• Empty bottle of “radiator coolant”or any other bottle with a narrow top or you can also use a balloon.
• Multimeter
• Knife
• Marker
• Insulating tape/permanent glue

Steps

1.     First, you fill up to about half of the bottle with pure water, then add about a half tea spoon of salt. The salt will aid in the conduction of the electric current through the water, you know, salt water is a very good conductor of electricity (that does not mean that pure water cannot conduct electricity too). Although, it’s not compulsory, because it worked even without salt water on my first attempt. I noticed that it works more effectively with salt water than it does with fresh water.

2.     Peel off the wooden part of your pencil leaving the lead, then attach the graphite (pencil lead) to a copper wire (be careful not to break it). Then partially immerse them (the two pencils-they will serve as
your electrode: anode and cathode). Then connect your wire to the graphite.
You can use stainless steel, maybe spoon made of stainless steel. At first, i used spanner, i clipped the spanner to bucket of water. At a point, it began to rust gradually-So i advice you don’t use an iron. You can use platinum for a more effective result.

3.     Connect the wire to DC generator. For safety purpose, use a low DC power source (you can use a small Duracell or tiger battery for a start). I used a micro solar panel which generates electricity in a very low voltage (an average of about 3.6v and 1500mA) and it did discharge hydrogen gas effectively.

4.     You will observe that bubbles form more on the cathode, this shows that hydrogen gas is being displaced at the cathode. If you wish to trap it, then glue the top of your plastic bottle to a radiator coolant or another bottle with a small opening at the top and seal it with your insulating tape to ensure that the hydrogen gas does not escape. You can also use a balloon in place of the bottle.

5.     After about two or three days, disconnect your experiment/setup from the power supply, then with your multimeter, check it’s voltage (for the setup), you will notice that the water from which you extracted hydrogen can now generate electricity in low voltage, like a small battery. Mine was about 1.4v after two days of carrying out electrolytic process on the water.

6.     To ensure that your metal electrode is not rusting, check the water for any brownish or yellowish trail in it or check the electrode for any sign of rust. You know, metals rust in the presence of oxygen.

7.     Congratulations. You’ve successfully discharged a considerable amount of hydrogen from the water. You can then let go of the gas or store it so you can generate electricity from the hydrogen.

Note: The closer the electrodes are to each other, the more bubbles you get.