DEVICE AND METHOD FOR GENERATION AND CONTROL OF FREE OH RADICAL IN AN ELECTROLYTIC CELL CONTAINING WATER AND IONIC COMPOUNDS

The present invention relates to a device and a method which, by means of the passage of current in an electrolytic cell containing water and ionic compounds, is able to use the phenomenon of autoprotolysis of water, i.e. the spontaneous generation in water of oxonium ions H ₃ O- and hydroxyl ions OH-, to obtain the transformation of the hydroxyls OH- into the free OH radical by maximizing the number of OH produced or even inhibiting the phenomenon of autoprotolysis.

The method object of the present invention is a consequence of the discovery that in electrolytic cells containing an aqueous-based liquid, there is a transport of electrical charges due to a natural and spontaneous behavior of water: a water molecule bumping into an electrode loses an electron and becomes a positive water molecule, which in subsequent collisions with adjacent water molecules can in turn steal an electron from the water molecule with which it collided; the repetition of these events causes the positive electric charge to “move” in the liquid by random collisions and in this path can get to touch the other electrode thereby closing the electric circuit in the liquid.

This phenomenon is a physical characteristic of the water molecule, it is always present and cannot be eliminated due to the fact that water molecules in a liquid have a natural kinetic movement due to thermal agitation, which causes them to collide with adjacent molecules about 10 ²⁰ times per second, so that all electrolytic cells with waterbased liquids, however they are made, are affected.

The theory explaining the operation of this physical phenomenon is able to justify the initiation of the electrolysis process and also the common and sometimes contradictory experiences of open- and closed-circuit electrolytic cells.

The traditional electrolysis theory states that the closing of the electrical circuit of an electrolytic cell, i.e. the passage of current, occurs because two complementary reactions take place simultaneously on the electrodes: a positive ion takes an electron and at the opposite pole a negative ion gives up an electron. The continuous and simultaneous exchange of electrons of the ions on the electrodes results in electrical charges seen passing through the closed circuit outside the liquid, whereas in the liquid there is no passage of electrical charges but only the movement of ions towards the electrodes, i.e. the movement of a mass within a mass. If we assume, as the traditional theory dictates, that in aqueous solutions the ions are the only charge carriers inside the liquid, it is also true that they move in the liquid with a speed of cm/sec while the speed of propagation of the electric charge in the external electric circuit is of the order of the speed of light: consequently only the number of ions and their continuous replacement on the electrodes could maintain the flow of electric charges.

This assumption is not valid because the electrical charges in the liquid move at speeds similar to the speed of light, as evidenced by the well-known phenomenon of electrocution in water. As further proof, it is common knowledge that in an electrolytic cell supplied with direct current (DC) containing water and ionic compounds, the distance between the electrodes determines the amount of current flowing in the circuit: all other things being equal, the further apart the electrodes are, the less current flows. This behavior cannot be explained by the ionic transport of electric charges because in a solution in which the ions are equally distributed, the positioning of an electrode at point A rather than at point B does not change the attraction that the electrode exerts towards the ions in their immediate vicinity because all the positioning points are equivalent; the speed of diffusion of the ions cannot be influenced by the spacing of the electrodes because the movement of the ions in the liquid depends on the concentration gradient.

The electric field in the liquid between the electrodes cannot be relevant to the reduction of the circulating current because it is possible to create multiple combinations of cells in which the positioning of the electrodes and the voltage applied generate infinitesimal electric forces in the liquid between the electrodes, so that further distancing of the electrodes from each other does not affect the force field, while the reduction of the current is immediate and measurable. That there must be some form of current propagation in the liquid is implicitly stated in Faraday's 1st law, which, on the basis of experience, says “the mass of a substance produced at an electrode during electrolysis is directly proportional to the amount of charge transferred into the electrolytic cell” and not that the substance produced is equal to the amount of charge transferred into the cell, thus making it acceptable that ions may not be the sole vehicle of the electrical charge in the liquid.

The definition of the positive water molecule and the formulation of the theory explaining the propagation of the electric charge in the liquid due to the characteristics of the water molecules, as proposed by the inventor, does not alter or invalidate any of the known laws of electrochemistry but is able to demonstrate that the presence of these charges in the liquid is an indispensable condition for the initiation of electrolysis and its operation.

The theory not only has scientific value, but also opens the way to the possibility of exploiting the propagation of electric charge in the liquid autonomously and independently of the ionic transport of the traditional theory.

For example, it is easy to verify that in an electrolytic cell supplied with alternating voltage at a frequency of more than 1kHz it is possible to have a flow of current of any intensity, even tens of Amperes, without any appreciable electrolysis reactions occurring at the electrodes, i.e. without the liquid changing its composition.

The usefulness of alternating current (AC) electrolytic cells has always been marginal from an industrial and electrochemical point of view, exactly because no products are generated, or if they are, they are not separated from each other. Therefore, these AC electrolytic cells have not received any special attention, have not been developed except for simple niche devices such as conductometers, and have not been subjected to any theoretical investigation.

The theoretical investigation of the operation of AC electrolytic cells by the inventor led to the discovery of how charge propagation in the liquid takes place, and that this propagation can influence reactions at the electrodes and interact with the autoprotolysis of water. Since also it is a natural spontaneous phenomenon, it is not possible to control it, but once its mechanism of action is known, it is possible to determine the conditions for amplifying or reducing its effect on electrochemical reactions at the electrodes or on the composition of the liquid, so as to obtain results that would not traditionally be possible.

The aim of the present invention is therefore to define a device and a method applicable to electrolytic cells containing water and ionic compounds which allows to increase the number of charged water molecules in the immediate vicinity of the electrodes which can diffuse into the liquid and transform the OH- ions produced by autoprotolysis into OH, or to saturate the immediate vicinity of the electrodes with charged water molecules so as to inhibit autoprotolysis and trigger electrochemical reactions at the electrodes which traditionally cannot take place.

The applications of this new technology are immense and range over several sectors: treatment of liquids polluted by bacteria or hydrocarbons, storage of CO ₂ , energy saving in domestic water heating, plus the possibility of using AC electrolytic cells to create electrochemical reactions in which only positive ions are involved.

Premise

It is well known that the reactions that take place in a DC electrolytic cell require more Amperes than those foreseen by the classic theory: this extra current is generically defined as leakage current and its origin, according to current knowledge, is attributed to a concausation of factors that have to do with the type of elements present in the solution, the type of electrodes and possible intermediate chemical reactions, but since these phenomena are not easily distinguishable from each other and in any case their effect on the electrolytic process itself is marginal, they have been little investigated even by theory.

The method object of the present invention derives from the discovery that the fundamental component of the so-called leakage currents in the electrolytic cells containing a water-based liquid is actually a natural and spontaneous behavior of water, which results to be the indispensable trigger of the electrolytic reaction, and which allows its continuous functioning.

In order to understand the degree of innovation of the present invention, a simple experiment is described which is able to highlight the phenomenon of charge propagation. The experiment, given the simplicity of the device and the materials used, is always repeatable and the results are always measurable.

1 - Evidence of the phenomenon

In a container of non-conductive material filled with water and ionic compounds, insert two equal electrodes E1, E2 made of the same conductive material and each with the same wetted surface, such that no spontaneous chemical reactions are created between the electrodes and the compounds present in the liquid. For example, for the experiment, pour 100 ml of a 0.9% sodium chloride solution into the container and insert two graphite electrodes with a wetted surface of 3 cm ² each at a distance of 10 cm between them.

If we measure with a voltmeter the voltage between electrodes E1, E2 we always find a voltage different from zero, of the order of tens of millivolts, which over time tends to settle on a value V (Fig.1). If electrodes E1, E2 are connected to each other by means of an electrical circuit with a resistor, external to the liquid, there is always a passage of electrical charges between the two electrodes as shown by the measurement of the voltage V _R at the ends of the resistor (Fig.2). The number of charges that are transferred from one electrode to the other decreases continuously during the time in which the circuit is closed, and during some experiments in which the circuit has been closed even for days there has always been found a current value I of at least some microamperes.

Opening the circuit for a few seconds and then closing it again, there is a repetition of the phenomenon, and this happens cyclically every time the sequence is repeated. Depending on the size of the electrodes, the intensity of the initial current varies from milliamperes to microamperes. The longer the time interval between one closure and another of the circuit, the closer the initial current returns to the value it had in the previous cycle, although the direction of the current may vary from one closure to another. If the electrodes are of the same material but of different size and/or shape, there is an increase in the value of the initial current flowing between the electrodes when the circuit is closed. Now suppose to insert in the container a baffle S of insulating material in order to separate the liquid in two isolated zones with an electrode in each zone (Fig.3). In this case, there is no longer any measurable voltage between electrodes E1, E2 and there is no movement of charges in the closed circuit (V _R =0, I=0). If baffle S includes a “plug” T that can be opened on command in order to obtain a passage P (Fig.4) that allows to restore a path in the liquid between the two electrodes E1 and E2, it is noted that the phenomenon of voltage and current always reappears every time the plug T is opened.

This experiment shows unequivocally that for there to be a transfer of charges in the circuit outside the liquid there must necessarily be also a similar transfer of charges in the liquid between one electrode and the other, and that when this “circuit in the liquid” is interrupted the phenomenon cannot occur. On the other hand, also all systems that produce electrolysis in a water-based liquid stop working immediately when one electrode does not have a path in the liquid towards the other electrode.

Considering the fact that in the closed circuit a current circulates even in the absence of energy supplied from outside, but that by construction of the experiment no known chemical reactions can be spontaneously generated between the electrodes and the compounds of the liquid, it is difficult to think that the electrical charges on the electrodes are supplied and fed by the ions and their movement towards the electrodes. In fact, the value of the spontaneous voltage between the electrodes is much lower than the threshold value V threshold defined as the minimum value of potential difference (p.d.) necessary to have the electrolysis (decomposition potential of the electrolytes).

Therefore, the spontaneous voltage cannot generate an electric field around the electrodes suitable for moving an ionic mass in the liquid, and even more so cannot generate a significant electric field between the electrodes because of their distance. As further confirmation of the impossibility for the ions to supply the electrons necessary for the current circulating in the circuit, consider that the electrodes are made of the same material, of the same size and immersed in the same liquid, therefore, even if we want to hypothesize the occurrence of unknown spontaneous chemical reactions between ions and electrodes, in order to have a current circulation in the external circuit it is necessary that on one electrode a chemical oxidation reaction takes place and at the same time on the other electrode a chemical reduction reaction takes place. Since they are absolutely identical electrodes, it is very unlikely that the same liquid with which they are both in contact can produce simultaneously opposite chemical reactions.

2 - Explanation of the phenomenon

The following explanation of the phenomenon describing the behavior of water molecules is proposed, valid for electrolytic processes and galvanic cells with waterbased solutions.

Initially the electrodes are immersed in the liquid and are not connected to each other by an external electrical circuit. The water molecule is polarized and the negative polarity zone, centered on the oxygen atom, is at least twice as large as the positive polarity zone. When, due to thermal agitation, a water molecule comes into contact with the electrode, it can then bump into the electrode surface with its negative polarity part (more frequently) or with its positive polarity part.

If the molecule hits the surface of the electrode with its negative polarity part, it may transfer one or more electrons because the electrons more easily extractable from a water molecule are located in the outer, higher energy orbitals (HOMO orbitals), which in the case of water are located essentially on the oxygen atom and are the two non-bonding doublets thereof. If, on the other hand, the molecule hits the surface of the electrode with its positive polarity part, the transfer or capture of electrons is unlikely for the above reason.

Also the ions present in the solution could hit the surface of the electrode and possibly transfer or capture electrons but their effect is negligible, both because the ions are present in a much smaller number than the water molecules and because the ions are surrounded by oriented water molecules and therefore to obtain a collision with the electrode an electric field is needed whose attraction force allows the ion to overcome the resistance of the barrier of water molecules between it and the electrode. The water molecules that hit the surface of the electrode with the negative polarity part have transferred one or more electrons of their own electrons to the electrode and consequently have become “positive”, presumably modifying also their structure (for simplicity of exposure from here on it is assumed that a molecule transfers only one electron). These “positive” molecules, which are not defined ions to distinguish them from the ions traditionally called and actually present in the liquid (such as derivatives of salts, acids, bases, ionized atoms), in the following will be indicated for brevity with the symbol .

These molecules, after the collision against the electrode, may have a trajectory that moves them away from the surface of the electrode and that leads them to hit other adjacent water molecules. The collision between an molecule and a normal water molecule can allow the former to take an electron from the latter so that the former returns to normal and the latter becomes . It can therefore be assumed that the molecule can propagate in the liquid in all directions according to a random motion.

The propagation by collision in the immediate vicinity of the electrode is, however, influenced by the negative electric charge present on the electrode due to the electronic exchange that has just occurred. So, there is a high probability that a sequence of collisions brings an molecule against the electrode to take back the electron, and there is a low probability that an molecule can move away from the electrode's field of attraction. The probability of leaving the electrode's area of influence increases significantly if there is an electric field disruptor in the immediate vicinity of the electrode, i.e. an ion that can allow more molecules to escape from the electrode's attraction field by altering the electric field. By the way, this is the reason why, as is experimentally known, pure water electrolysis cannot be obtained: molecules cannot escape the electrode and since they cannot reach the other electrode, they do not close the “circuit in the liquid”.

In case ionic compounds are present in the liquid, we can therefore say that due to the successive collisions between water molecules, the positive electric charge carried by the molecule can be anywhere in the liquid. So, it can happen that, after a time determined by the number of collisions between molecules, an molecule can hit the surface of the electrode again, taking back the lost electron and returning to normal.

The continuous exchange of electrons between water molecules and electrode can generate at a time t an accumulation of N electrons on the electrode with charge , which are distributed on the surface of the electrode, while at the same time N molecules are formed in the liquid. The overlapping of these processes over time leads each electrode to reach and oscillate around its own equilibrium condition, not necessarily equal to that of the other electrode, which depends on time, on the concentration of ionic compounds present in the immediate vicinity of the electrode and on the material, size and positioning of the electrode.

Considering that the same phenomena act on two electrodes identical in size and material, it can be considered that the number of collisions is on average the same for both electrodes, so that the negative electric charge on the two electrodes will be on average the same but, given the large number of collisions, it will certainly not be equal instant by instant. Therefore, when the electrodes are connected to each other at time t, by means of an electric circuit external to the liquid, one electrode will contain more charges than the other, which will result in a flow of electrons from one to the other with the intention of equalizing the electric potential of the two electrodes.

This transfer of electrons is therefore generated by the asymmetry in the system so that, for example, electrode E1 that has more electrons than electrode E2 is negative compared to E2 and therefore tends to give it the excess electrons. However, at the time / when E1 transfers electrons it becomes “positive” with respect to its equilibrium point, that is with respect to the liquid that surrounds it, and E2 that receives the electrons becomes “negative” with respect to its equilibrium point. The deviation from the equilibrium point is the motor of the spontaneous phenomenon because it induces a preference on the type of collisions that can occur between the electrode and the water molecules that surround it.

At time t the liquid adjacent to electrode E1 sees it as “positive”, and therefore there is an increase in the probability of a water molecule hitting the electrode with its negative polarity zone, thus transferring an electron to electrode E1 and generating at the same time an molecule.

At time t the liquid adjacent to electrode E2 sees it as “negative”, and therefore there is a reduction in the probability of a water molecule hitting the electrode with its negative polarity zone, because the intensity of the electric field near the surface is able to change the trajectory of the molecule before the collision by rotating the part of the molecule with positive polarity towards the electrode surface. In addition, there is an increase in the probability that an molecule can be attracted towards electrode E2, from which it will rip the electron necessary to return to neutral.

In practice, at time t electrode E1 behaves as a "generator" of electrons and molecules while electrode E2 behaves as a "consumer" of electrons and molecules. However, the flow of electrons between electrodes E1 and E2 occurs by means of an electric conductor while the positive charge moves in the liquid through the collisions between the molecules, therefore the speed of transfer of the negative charge is many orders of magnitude higher than that of the positive charge. It is therefore possible to consider the transfer of electrons in the electric circuit as immediate compared to the displacement of charges in the liquid.

Consequently, as soon as the two electrodes are connected to each other through the external circuit, i.e. at time t, the electrons move immediately from E1 to E2, and at time t+1 the collisions on electrode E1 generate new electrons that are immediately transferred to electrode E2, which in the meantime has consumed the electrons arrived from E1 at time t transferring them to the molecules already present in the liquid. This event restores the difference in charge between the two electrodes, making E1 again negative compared to E2 and allowing a continuous flow of electrons from E1 to E2 that lasts until the molecules already present in the liquid are exhausted. This mechanism explains the transfer of charges from E1 to E2 through the external circuit.

From this moment on it happens that when the generator electrode E1 acquires an electron creating the molecule, the external circuit moves the electron to the consumer electrode E2 before the molecule has arrived on E2 to neutralize it. In the meantime, electrode E1 is able to acquire a new electron and creates a new molecule but this new electron cannot be sent to E2 because E2 has the same charge as E1 that has not yet neutralized the previous electron due to lack of molecules. Therefore, the generator electrode E1, having to hold the new electron on itself, decreases its “positivity” with respect to the adjacent liquid, thus decreasing its ability to generate new molecules. This mechanism explains the weakening of the current passage during the closed-circuit period.

When the electrical connection between the electrodes is interrupted, the system tends to return spontaneously to the initial equilibrium conditions because in the liquid the ionic compounds tend to diffuse homogeneously pushed by the concentration gradient. This mechanism explains why the subsequent electrical connection between the electrodes will lead to the same operation.

In the light of the above, the amount of the initial flow and the direction of flow of the charges in the circuit depend on the situation present on each electrode at the moment of closing the circuit. Therefore, each closing cycle will have the same operation, but the starting values may be different from time to time as well as the direction of flow of the electric charges. By changing the shape and size of one of the electrodes it is possible to increase the probability that the direction of the current will remain stable between one cycle and another.

The theory explained here proposes to integrate the current knowledge that the displacement of electrical charges within an aqueous solution, either of an electrolytic cell or galvanic cell or battery, is caused only by the movement of ions towards the anode and cathode due to the attraction of the electric field in the immediate vicinity of the electrode (migration), due to the effect of the concentration gradient as you move away from the electrode (diffusion) and to the convective movement and the simultaneous constant presence of leakage currents.

The explanation of the operation of the devices object of the present invention is based on the demonstration that the electrical conductivity of the liquid always has a component due to the presence of charges carried by water molecules that are generated by collision and that move in the liquid through collisions/interactions with other water molecules.

3 - The theory applied to the DC-powered electrolytic cell

The above theory provides an explanation of the triggering of an electrolytic process.

Consider the configuration of the previous experiment, with electrode E1 connected to the positive pole of an electric battery and electrode E2 to the negative pole. When a p.d. value V _threshold sufficient to initiate electrolysis is applied to the electrodes, the battery makes electrode E1 positive with respect to the liquid adjacent thereto and electrode E2 negative with respect to the liquid adjacent thereto.

For what has been exposed so far, electrode E1 becomes the generator of molecules and the electrons given to electrode E1 are immediately transported to the positive pole of the battery, while electrode E2 becomes the consumer of molecules that neutralize the electrons present in the negative pole of the battery. As long as the battery is able to immediately remove from electrode E1 the electrons due to the generation of , E1 will continue to form molecules without the process slowing down and allowing an increasing flow of charges in the circuit connected to the battery.

At start-up, the molecules carry the totality of electrical charges with the maximum intensity established by the system configuration (battery, electrode size and distance between them, ion concentration), and as the intensity of the current increases, the number of electrical charges that at a given instant t are on the surface of the electrode also increases. These charges generate around the electrode an electric field, which in turn is gradually increasing, that extends into the liquid in the immediate vicinity of the electrode and influences the behavior of the ions present: the ions of the same sign are pushed away while, as soon as a certain value of the electric field is exceeded, the ions of the opposite sign present in the adjacent liquid undergo a force of attraction such that they can overcome the barrier of oriented water molecules surrounding them and hit the electrode, thus initiating the electrolysis process proper.

The molecules therefore constitute the “starting engine” of all the electrolytic processes that take place in water-based ionic solutions, because if there was not the mechanism of molecular transport of water, the ions present around the electrodes would not be able, on their own, to bring to the electrode the amount of charge necessary to create the electric field itself. In fact, in open circuit, on the terminals of a battery there are only “few” electrical charges, several orders of magnitude less than when a current begins to flow, regardless of the value of the applied p.d. If an electrode immersed in the liquid is connected to the battery terminal, even the electrode will have few electrical charges that generate in the liquid an electric field absolutely insufficient to attract the number of ions necessary to start the electrolysis process.

The intensity of the current circulating in the external circuit is therefore given by:

A _total = A _water + A _ions where A _ions is the contribution of the normal electrochemical reaction and

A _water is the contribution of charges provided by the molecular transport of water. At start-up, the value of A _total is maximum and is formed only by A _water while with the continuation of the process the A _total value drops, because the value of A _water drops drastically and the value of A _ions starts to increase. Under steady conditions, the system finds its equilibrium point with the maximum A _ions value and a minimum A _water value.

Once the electrolytic process has started, in order to maintain it, it is necessary that there are always useful ions in the significant range of the electric field, therefore the ions consumed by the electrolytic reaction must be replaced by others who must take their place. In order to approach the electrode, the ions move in the liquid by diffusion pushed by the concentration gradient, i.e. there is the movement of a physical mass that must open a path in the middle of other masses, therefore the speed of the ion in the liquid is limited by the characteristics of the ion and the liquid. The speed at which the replacement ions go to a point where they can touch the electrode determines the maximum A _ions of the cell.

On the positive electrode, the electric field moves away the negative ions and in doing so reduces the number of molecules that can be released into the liquid, so the A _water is reduced. The value of A _water cannot be reduced to zero because if this were to happen, e.g. by isolating the electrodes from each other via baffle S in the cell, the electrolytic process would stop instantly.

In fact, let's hypothesize absurdly that the electrochemical reaction is maintained under steady conditions only due to the contribution of the electrons supplied by the ions: in Fig.5 there is represented with K one of the countless points of contact with the liquid that the surface of the electrode has and on which at each unit of time there is a contact with the molecules of the liquid, and in the lateral diagram there is shown schematically the electrostatic force that the charges present on the electrode exert in the liquid.

At time t=0 a sequence of ions A, B, C, D, E are initially positioned in a line perpendicular to surface K and equidistant from each other, being separated by polarized water molecules M.

After the first unit of time (t=1), ion A, which is subject to the force of the electrostatic field, gets into contact with the electrode in K moving with velocity where is the acceleration impressed by the electric field at the distance P from point K. The replacement ion B moves towards P instead with velocity where is the acceleration impressed by the electric field at the distance Q>P from point K, therefore and consequently This implies that, in the first unit of time, ion A arrives in K and gives an electron e to the electrode, but ion B cannot reach the distance P but only the distance P'>P.

At time t=2 point K of the electrode cannot therefore be touched by ion B, which does not have a sufficient velocity to reach it in the second unit of time, and is therefore hit by a water molecule Mi that hypothetically does not exchange electrons with the electrode. If this happens simultaneously at both electrodes, less current passes through the circuit and therefore the amount of charge on the electrodes and consequently the intensity of the electric field is reduced.

At the time t=3 ion B reaches point K and gives an electron e to the electrode, but ion C, subject to a lower electric field than the previous one, is still far away from point K leaving therefore for three units of time (t=4, t=5, t=6) the collision with K to water molecules M2, M3, M4 that do not exchange electrons. The result is a reduction of the current circulating in the circuit and therefore of the quantity of charge instantaneously present on the electrode and consequently of the electric field, as indicated by the relative lateral diagram. This mechanism leads in short to a continuous decrease of the charges present on the electrode, which therefore no longer manages to attract the ions necessary to feed the electrolysis process.

Consider instead the case in which the water molecules M can exchange an electron e during the collision with the electrode as shown in Fig.6, where it can be noticed that the electric field at steady state does not vary and therefore the attraction on the ions remains constant allowing the maintenance of the electrolytic transformations.

In fact, as for the previous case, at time t=0 the same sequence of ions A, B, C, D, E appears in front of point K and at time t=1 ion A arrives in K and ion B in P'. At time t=2 ion B has not reached K, which is therefore hit by a molecule of water Mi that however exchanges an electron e with the electrode allowing therefore to maintain in the circuit the same circulating current and therefore the quantity of charge instantaneously present on the electrode, and consequently also the electric field remains unchanged.

From this moment on, all the following ions B, C, D, E, F will always be subject to the same attractive force and will therefore have a similar approach to K, as shown schematically in the figure. In fact, even if an ion requires two time units to get in contact with K (t=3, t=5, t=7), after the first of said two time units it is the water molecule M ₁ , M ₂ , M ₃ that exchanges an electron e with the electrode (t=2, t=4, t=6).

This example also explains the known increase of leakage currents in proportion to the p.d. applied to the electrodes, and why the yield and the efficiency of an electrolysis process are better for p.d. just above the threshold value V _threshold . In fact, considering that the electrode is immersed in the liquid and that at each point of contact there is a collision with either a water molecule or an ion, and that in aqueous solutions water is always present to a greater extent than ions in solution, it follows that in any electrolytic process in aqueous solutions the collision between the electrodes and the water molecules cannot be avoided.

When the threshold value V _threshold is reached, there is started the current A _ions that “consumes” the ions that hit the electrode and are replaced thanks to the concentration of the ions in the liquid that diffuse towards the electrode. When the p.d. is increased, more and more ions are attracted towards the electrode but the ions closer to the electrode are attracted faster and faster than those further away because the force of attraction of the electric field follows the reciprocal of the square of the distance. Consequently, the velocity at which ions are replaced near the electrode depends not only on the concentration of the ions and the physical displacement of the ion mass in the liquid, but also on the fact that the force of attraction of the electric field acts more near the electrode and marginally at the limits of the electric field.

Since if no ions are present the collision occurs with water molecules, and the generation of molecules increases with the increase of the electric field, the magnitude of the molecular transport increases with the increase of the current circulating in the circuit. However, this growth is not linear because the quadratic component of the electric field attraction force is present.

In the electrolytic cell taken for example, but more generally for all the electrolytic cells with water-based solutions, it can be observed that by disconnecting the electrodes from the battery terminals and immediately inserting a voltmeter a p.d. of a little less than the one supplied until a moment before by the battery is measured between the electrodes, and that this p.d. spontaneously and slowly decreases towards a minimum value of the order of tens of millivolts. If then, after having disconnected the electrodes from the battery, the electrodes are short-circuited between them, a current of opposite direction and of initial intensity slightly lower than the one circulating with the battery connected is measured and said current very quickly decreases to almost zero and at the same time the voltage between the electrodes reaches the minimum value.

This last phenomenon is explained by the fact that as soon as the electrodes of the electrolytic cell are connected to the battery, molecules start to form on the positive electrode. These molecules produce the transport of the positive charges in the liquid not through the displacement of the molecular mass but through the transfer of the charge to an adjacent molecule. The path of the positive charge generated by the positive electrode towards the negative electrode is therefore random and does not follow the shortest line between the two electrodes, therefore before the first positive charge produced hits the negative electrode, many others have already been produced and are randomly distributed in the liquid.

The liquid thus acts as a “reservoir” of positive charges that fills up as the electrolysis continues. It should be noted that this “reservoir” is able to be constantly increased during cell operation because the positive electrode generates more molecules than the negative electrode can absorb, for statistical reasons.

In fact, the normal water molecule has a slightly positive zone in correspondence of the hydrogen atoms and a negative zone in correspondence of the oxygen atom, therefore in front of the positive electrode it spontaneously tends to dispose itself showing to the electrode its negative zone, i.e. that relative to oxygen. This is exactly the most favorable zone to exchange the electron with the electrode and generate the molecule while in front of the negative electrode there is a molecule of water which is all positive and therefore it is not arranged according to a preferred direction. The probability that a normal water molecule bumping into the positive electrode gives an electron to the electrode is therefore greater than the probability that an molecule bumping into the negative electrode takes an electron, therefore the generator electrode produces more charges than the consumer electrode is able to consume.

When the electrodes are disconnected from the battery and short-circuited between them, there is a current flow in the circuit between the electrodes because at the moment of disconnection from the battery the electrode that was connected to the positive terminal is seen as “negative” by the surrounding liquid, and vice versa for the other electrode. Therefore, for the reasons already illustrated above, there is a current circulation in the opposite direction with respect to when the electrodes were connected to the battery, and the current intensity has an initial peak because the events that occur at the electrodes can immediately exploit all the positive charges already present in the “reservoir”.

This behavior, present in all electrolytic cells with water-based solutions, is a further demonstration of the validity of the theory of charge transport by molecules which is able to explain a phenomenon otherwise difficult to explain. In fact, it is very unlikely that this consistent and measurable current flow can be generated by the electrons exchanged by the ions, since the chemical reactions on the electrodes should not only be reversed but also, in the absence of a generator, they should be transformed from induced reactions to spontaneous reactions making the electrolytic cell a battery, even if for a few seconds.

As a consequence of the fact that there is a “reservoir” in which the positive charges have accumulated, it is evident that if the electrodes are removed from the liquid the positive charges, having no conductive surfaces with which to exchange electrons to the outside, should remain indefinitely in the liquid itself.

In the electrolytic cell used as an example, numerous tests were carried out in which the cell was brought to the same initial conditions and then the electrodes were removed from the liquid and re-inserted short-circuited between them after a certain period of time, in order to measure the current flowing between them. The measurements showed that the longer the liquid remained at rest, the lower the initial current peak in the circuit.

This result means that the number of positive charges present in the liquid decreases over time, because in fact the molecules have the possibility to exchange electrons with the oxygen molecules present in the air in contact with the surface of the liquid. When the same test was carried out by immediately closing the container with an insulating lid, it was found that the initial peak was always higher than the analogous experiment without a lid, and the more effective the isolation between liquid and air, and all the more so if a vacuum is created over the liquid, the greater the quantity of charges that can be stored in the liquid over time. Notes and abbreviations

For simplicity of exposition we report some abbreviations that for convenience of writing and reading from here on will be used in the course of the following paragraphs. The water molecule will be called Antolin, or H ₂ O ⁺ if in the formulae; the theory explaining the propagation of electric charge in the liquid by the water molecule will be called the Antolin theory, the electrolytic cell supplied by a direct voltage generator will be called a DC cell for the sake of brevity to distinguish it from the electrolytic cell supplied by an alternating voltage generator, which will be called an AC cell; the chemical transformation reaction which takes place on an electrode through which a current flows and which produces chemical equivalents of the electrolyte will simply be called electrolysis.

4 - The theory applied to the AC electrolytic cell

Consider an electrolytic cell consisting of an insulating container filled with an aqueous ionic solution, e.g. 0.9% NaCl saline, in which are at least partially immersed on one side an electrode E1 and on the other side an electrode E2, the electrodes being substantially identical in material, shape and size and spaced so that their respective faces F1, F2 in contact with the liquid are spaced not more than 1 cm apart. Connect electrode E1 to one pole of an alternating voltage generator and electrode E2 to the other pole.

Now apply, at a frequency ≥ 1kHz, an alternating voltage (e.g. square wave) greater than the threshold value V _threshold which would be obtained if the electrodes E1 and E2 were connected to a battery, and increase the voltage until a current of, for example, 1 Ampere is obtained. Under these conditions, it can be seen immediately that there is no electrolysis but there is current flowing between the electrodes, as is the case with conductometers used to measure the specific electrical conductivity of a liquid. The total current A _total has an A _ion component that is minimal or tends to zero and the contribution to the total current is almost exclusively provided by A _water -

The reason for this is as follows: during the first cycle of the alternating voltage, the electrode E1 is positive whereas E2 is negative, so the electrodes are subjected to the same conditions as described above: E1 becomes a generator of Antolins which, propagating by collisions through the liquid, reach E2 where they are neutralized. At the moment of start-up, E1 creates the maximum electric field in its surroundings and thus begins to attract the negative ions which, however, as already mentioned, must move through the liquid and therefore have a limited speed.

In the time it takes for the negative ions to approach E1 and before they can touch it, the voltage cycle on electrode E1 is reversed so that E1 becomes negative and starts to repel the negative ions and attract the positive ones. Similarly, as the positive ions approach E1, the voltage reverses again and we return to the previous condition.

This behavior of the AC cell demonstrates experimentally that the propagation of charges in the liquid is not due to the movement of the ions and that the propagation of electrical charges occurs throughout the liquid according to the collisions between the molecules. In this way, throughout the liquid, Antolins are always present, and it is their number that determines A _total ≃ A _water with A _total that can be as high as tens of Amperes.

By changing the percentage of solute in the liquid, the frequency or the voltage applied to the electrodes, it is also possible to trigger an electrolytic reaction at the electrodes in an AC cell. Easy experiments have shown that the AC cell operates constantly with k _total ≃ A _water when:

1. The frequency ƒ is greater than 1 kHz: in fact, for lower values the ions are able to hit the electrodes before the polarity reversal, triggering the electrolytic reaction that activates the A _ion component. It can be verified that, all other variables being equal, when the frequency is reduced to values below 1 kHz, electrolysis is triggered, similar to that which would occur if the electrodes were connected to a battery.

2. The concentration of solute in the water, expressed as a weight/weight percentage P, is less than a Ptrigger value which differs according to the solutes. In fact, in highly concentrated solutions the number of ions present is such that the reversal of the electric field in the vicinity of the electrode is unable to remove all the ions and electrolysis will therefore be initiated. It can be verified, leaving the frequency and voltage fixed, that by reducing the concentration of that solute below the Ptrigger value, electrolysis stops while the passage of current remains.

3. The voltage V applied to the electrodes E1 and E2 is less than a V _trigger value which depends on the distance between the electrodes and the frequency f. in fact, if the V _trigger value is exceeded, an electric field is generated between the electrodes which exerts such a force on the ions in the immediate vicinity of the electrodes that they are attracted more quickly until they hit the electrode before the polarity is reversed, thus triggering an electrolytic reaction on that pole similar to that which would occur if the pole was connected to a battery. Leaving the concentration constant, it can be verified that by moving the electrodes apart or increasing the frequency to a value electrolysis stops while the current continues to flow.

Lastly, it should be noted that the Antolin theory provides an explanation for the phenomenon whereby, once a voltage V< V _trigger is set, as the frequency increases the value of the current A _water decreases. In fact, a faster variation of the polarity reduces the time available for the ions to approach the electrodes and therefore in the immediate vicinity of the electrodes there will be fewer ions and since the ions, as already written in paragraph 2, are the perturbing element of the electric field that allows the Antolins to escape the attraction of the electrode, it will happen that fewer Antolins can reach the opposite electrode and consequently the value of A _water will be reduced.

5 - Considerations on Brownian motion and statistical theory of chemical reactions

Since Brown's first article in 1827 describing an experiment in which a continuous movement in water of small, suspended particles was observed, many physicists have been interested in the explanation of the phenomenon, especially at the beginning of the 20th century: at that time the concept of atom was not consolidated and the articles with the solutions proposed by Einstein, starting from 1905, provided a first physical theory to the phenomenon. Among the physicists of the time who tackled the subject, Smoluchowski in 1906 found that the value of 10 ²⁰ collisions per second between molecules was convenient for arriving, through other reasoning and calculations, at the same results proposed by Einstein. The value of 10 ²⁰ collisions per second has not been questioned and is currently taken for granted but, for the considerations which will be exposed below, it must be noted that Einstein in his articles never wrote the value 10 ²⁰ nor did he ever indicate the instantaneous speed of particles in Brownian motion.

For a better understanding of the phenomena related to the propagation of charges in the liquid, the value of 10 ²⁰ collisions per second has a different meaning and use compared to what has been studied in the literature, because one is not interested in determining the diffusion velocity or the distance travelled by the particles in a given period of time since the charge displacement does not occur due to the Antolin displacement, the charge does not remain attached to the Antolin, but due to the sequence of collisions that the Antolin has with other molecules.

In the H ₂ O molecule, the distance between oxygen and hydrogen is 0.96× 10 ^-10 m and in a first approximation we can represent the molecule as a sphere of radius 0.96× 10 ^-10 m. Let us now imagine to align a row of water molecules to form a distance of 1 cm taking into account that the molecules will be equally spaced by d Angstrom (for simplicity of calculation the operations will be approximated not being the precision of calculation necessary for the demonstration): if each molecule occupies a space given by the sum of the diameter and the distance d from the other molecule, in 1 cm we can align molecules.

One mole of water contains 6 × 10 ²³ molecules, weighs 18 grams and occupies a volume of 18 ml = 18 cm ³ , therefore which gives a value of d = 1.18 × 10 ^-10 m, which when substituted into the first formula gives a result of 3.22 × 10 ⁷ aligned molecules per linear centimeter.

If the water molecules are arranged at a distance d between them and collide 10 ²⁰ times per second, then, given the number of collisions per second, it is imaginable that there will be a collision for which the distance a molecule travels to collide with another will be d, i.e. a water molecule travels in 10 ^-20 s the distance d before colliding with an adjacent water molecule. It is then derived:

This value is two orders of magnitude greater than the speed of light (3 × 10 ⁸ m/s) and four orders of magnitude greater than the speed of the electron, and by this reasoning the greater the distance between the molecules, the greater the speed.

It is not the intention of this paper to refute or confirm the numbers underlying the simple observation that taking 10 ²⁰ as true is equivalent to stating that the speed of molecules in travelling the distance between them is greater than the speed of light. The numbers used for this calculation are values that have been conventionally accepted for over a century and any corrections to this number, for example changing 10 ²⁰ to 10 ¹⁶ , require reasoning and adjustments to the calculations that have been made based on it. For these reasons, in the following explanations in support of the invention, reference will in any case be made to the conventional value of 10 ²⁰ with the observation that the possible reduction in the number of collisions per second is a further element in favor of the demonstrations proposed by the inventor.

However, whatever the number of collisions per second between molecules, the hypothesis that the speed of the particles in the liquid is compatible with that of light can be taken into account by experimental evidence because it is possible to construct simple passive AC cells that have a passage of electric charges of the order of tens of Amperes so that in the liquid they must have a propagation speed similar to that in the conductor. In fact, in the liquid, even considering that for x charges reaching the cathode in the same time the anode can produce x + y charges, thus reducing the average crossing speed of a charge, it is also true that the movement of the charge occurs by random collisions with a path longer than the distance between the electrodes, and that the individual sections covered by the electric charge in the liquid must necessarily be covered at a speed greater than the average speed.

The fact that the speed v can be in the order of magnitude of the speed of light or at least greater than the speed of an electron can lead to a theory that explains why atoms and molecules interact with each other in what are called chemical reactions.

Imagine an atom A surrounded by electron clouds moving around it at 1% of the speed of light with different trajectories along its orbitals: how could an adjacent atom B moving towards A interact with A if it too is surrounded by an electron cloud moving at the same speed? The approach between the atoms, which is necessary for interaction, would be thwarted by the presence of negative charges that repel each other, so that no reaction could take place or molecules form.

Imagine instead that the approach of atom B towards atom A occurs at a speed greater than the speed of the electrons of A. In this case, atom B would “see” the electrons of A as stationary: depending on where the electrons are positioned and the direction of atom B towards A, it could happen that atom B manages to penetrate into the area normally precluded by the “shielding” of the electrons of A. The collision between A and B will therefore occur when the reciprocal repulsive force of the electrons or nuclei will deviate the trajectory of B making it move away from A. The distancing of B from A could happen with a different trajectory and in the exit path from the influence zone it could drag with it an electron that is, let's say for simplicity, closer to the nucleus of B than that of A, thus creating an ion; or B could find the exit path “occupied”, thus remaining incorporated with A, giving origin to a new molecule. If, on the other hand, in the path of B towards A, the collision occurs at the moment when the electrons of both atoms are on the collision path, then atom B will not be able to penetrate inside A and there will be no possibility of interaction between the atoms.

This behavior of the atoms defines chemical reactions as the result of a collision between atoms/molecules in which the nucleus of one atom has been able to approach within the zone where one or more of the other's electrons are normally present and, depending on the shape of the orbitals of each atom involved, this collision will be more or less likely. Thus all chemical reactions could be explained by statistical considerations only, on the basis of the shape and arrangement of the orbitals.

Of all the atoms, hydrogen, which has only one electron, will always be statistically favored in being able to “enter” the molecules it bumps into. This theory is able to explain conceptually the kinetics of chemical reactions in which it seems that some reactions take place in a few moments while others take a very long time: in reality all reactions would take place in the same very short time in which the atoms collide, and the speed of the reaction is only a question of the greater or lesser probability of a captivating collision.

Even the fact that a chemical reaction between atoms A and B generates AB only in the presence of a catalyst C could be hypothesized as a sequence of events: either the catalyst C collides with A and forms C’ and A’ by stealing/giving up an electron and thereby changing the conformation of the orbitals around A that allow B to penetrate A’ thus becoming A’B and subsequently C’ collides with A’B and gives up/gets back the electron forming AB and C or the catalyst C collides with A and forms AC thus changing the conformation of the orbitals around AC which allow B to penetrate AC becoming AB and releasing C.

As a consequence of the above reasoning, it could also be assumed that the captivating collision between two atoms/molecules cannot involve the capture of more than one electron at a time or the ejection of more than one atom at a time, given that the time available for the collision is a tiny fraction of the time taken to reach the atom with which to collide and that the available energy of the collision is in any case limited. In this way, it would be possible to describe any chemical reaction as a sequence of several simple reactive events.

6 - E1ectric charge: ionic transport and transport by kinetic collision between molecules

Before dealing with a method of exploiting the propagation of electric charges in the liquid and applying it to some practical cases, it is considered appropriate to summaries some considerations.

For all cell types, whether DC or AC, the occurrence of electrolysis at the electrodes cannot be excluded but, depending on the type of cell, the voltage applied and/or the frequency, these electrolytic reactions may involve a negligible and infinitesimal number of molecules compared to the number of molecules present in the liquid: therefore, in the following, the term “no electrolysis occurs” will refer to the situation in which the possible electrolysis phenomenon produces non-measurable or negligible products.

Having said this, let us consider that the electric current in the circuit is given by

A _total = A _water + A _ions and that the component A _ions is in turn formed by the sum of two different components A _{ions.transport} and A _{ions.collision.} The A _{ions.transport} component is given by the electrons that are released/acquired at an electrode when an ion moving “physically” in the liquid manages to hit the electrode, i.e. when the electric field in the vicinity of the electrode is sufficient to attract it despite the possible cloud of polarized molecules surrounding it (e.g. Na ⁺ , Ca ⁺⁺ , Cl-). The A _{ions.collision} component, on the other hand, is given by the electrons released/acquired at an electrode by ions that do not move in the liquid but acquire ion status by shifting their valence bond with hydrogen through collision with an adjacent molecule (e.g. H ₃ O ⁺ , OH- and OH). The difference between these two components is fundamental because A _{ions.transport} needs to get physically close to the electrode and to do so must move through the liquid at a speed measurable in cm/sec driven by the concentration gradient of the substance in the liquid, whereas A _{ions.collision} moves at an incomparably greater speed and throughout the liquid, regardless of concentration or electric field, because it moves by random collisions.

The A _water component is similar to the A _{ions.collision} component, but in this case the collision moves an electron from one molecule to another and the speed of movement in the liquid is maximum. For what will be explained later, it is useful to summarize the mechanism of displacement of the positive electric charge carried by the Antolin, which occurs using three simultaneous modes.

First: an Antolin can only give up its charge if it collides with a water molecule.

Second: simplifying, it can be said that an Antolin can give up the charge in one of six possible directions (forward, backward, right, left, up or down); the forward direction is the one that allows the charge to reach the cathode placed in front of the anode, and the minimum number of collisions necessary to reach it is given by the number of water molecules that are arranged along the segment representing the minimum distance between the electrodes. In large numbers, the probability of the event “forward” is equal to the probability of the event “backward”, the other four directions being irrelevant for the approach to the cathode, but since the anode at each instant generates other Antolins, it may occur that a previously created Antolin moving “backward” collides with an Antolin (or a positive ion) with the result that the electric charge does not move backwards because the collision does not move the electric charges. As a result of this situation, while the probability of each event remains constant, the probability that the “backward” event causes the charge to recede changes in favor of the “forward” event. The increased Antolin concentration progressively extends from the anode towards the cathode, making it statistically possible for the positive charge to reach the cathode.

Third: the Antolin is attracted to the negative ions and participates in the cloud of water molecules that surrounds them; as mentioned earlier, the Antolin requires this to escape the attraction of the anode that created it but also to facilitate its movement in the liquid because its path to the cathode can be seen as a sequence of negative ions to be reached one after the other, crossing the short stretch of water molecules that separates them. In this way, it is more likely that on a short path the random dominance of a sequence of “forward” events can make it reach the next negative ion, and the presence of more Antolins remaining in the cloud surrounding the preceding ions contributes to the dominance of the “forward” event.

Consider now that, on the basis of the above, the following cases can occur:

A _total ≃ A _water is the case of an AC or DC cell with negligible electrolysis which we will call Passive Cell.

A _total ≃ A _ions is the case of an AC or DC cell with electrolysis on both electrodes, which we will call Active Cell.

A _total = A _water + A _ions is the special case where an AC or DC cell performs electrolysis at the cathode counterbalanced by Antolin emission at the anode, which we will call Hybrid Cell. The Hybrid Cell is feasible if the applied voltages do not exceed a threshold value which is a function of the ions dissolved in the liquid, it is a peculiarity that can only be explained by the theories presented here and will be demonstrated in one of the experiments illustrated below.

7 - Autoprotolysis of water

Water molecules at ambient pressure and 25°C collide with each other by thermal agitation approximately 10 ²⁰ times per second. A fraction of these collisions occurs in such a way that the collision between two water molecules A and B causes molecule A to become a hydroxyl ion OH- because it loses the nucleus of one of its two hydrogen atoms which binds to molecule B, causing it to become an oxonium ion H ₃ O ⁺ .

The autoprotolysis of water can be defined as a natural phenomenon whereby collisions between two water molecules give rise to the reaction

H ₂ O + H ₂ O OH“ + H ,cr [1] which generates two complementary ions.

These two ions are also subject to random collisions with the surrounding water molecules, so they do not necessarily rejoin each other immediately because they may take different paths; given the number of collisions, it will happen that these paths cross and their collision will give rise to the inverse reaction

OH- + H ₃ O ⁺ H ₂ O + H ₂ O [2] which reforms the two initial molecules A and B. From the moment of creation to the moment the ions rejoin, these ions have a life of their own. The duration of this life depends on how many complementary ions are present in the liquid, and therefore on the greater or lesser probability of encountering them on their path. Autoprotolysis has three events that are governed by statistical laws: dissociation'. there is a probability which determines how many consecutive collisions on average a water molecule has to make with other water molecules before the collision that generates the reaction [1] takes place life'. there is a probability which determines how many collisions an ion has to make on average before colliding with its complementary ^r ecombinatior. there is a probability which determines how many collisions between two complementary ions occur before the collision that generates the reverse reaction [2] takes place.

The constant occurrence of these three events causes the liquid to reach a point of equilibrium whereby at any given time there is a given quantity of hydroxyl ions OH- and consequently the same number of oxonium ions H ₃ O ⁺ , and this number is known and can be measured using a variety of readily available instruments.

For the purposes of understanding the various applications and considerations that will be illustrated later, it is worth emphasizing that:

- the generation of ions by dissociation occurs continuously in the liquid according to the probability constant and each generation produces one oxonium ion and one hydroxyl ion

- the generation of oxonium and hydroxyl is independent of the substances dissolved in the liquid

- the number of dissociations occurring at a given time depends primarily on the number of water molecules present in the liquid: obviously the more water molecules present, the greater the number of generations and consequently the more ions produced

- the lifetime of the ions depends on the probability which determines the quantity of ions present in the liquid at that instant.

If other ionic compounds are present in the liquid, they may interact and bind with some OH- or H ₃ O- instantly altering the number of oxonium or hydroxyl ions. This difference in instantaneous numbering also affects subsequent generations because the probability of the dissociation event does not change. Therefore, the same number of new pairs of ions will always be created at each successive instant, and therefore the “excess” ions can never be cancelled out because, in those equilibrium conditions, they do not find a complementary. The measurement of these excess ions is notoriously indicated by a pH other than 7.

Having understood how the alteration in the number of OH- ions is generated to the detriment of H ₃ O ⁺ ions or vice versa, and how this alteration lasts over time, it must be noted that the variation in pH that is induced in an aqueous liquid is due to an “instantaneous” and non-repeatable effect whereby an oxonium (or hydroxyl) ion binds to an external substance leaving forever its complementary without a partner with which to cancel itself out.

8 - Interaction Theory

It is now shown that the propagation of electrical charges viaAntolins within an aqueous liquid in an AC cell is able to influence the operation of autoprotolysis, by acting simultaneously and independently on the dissociation event and the life event.

Interaction with the dissociation event

As already described, the dissociation event is given by the reaction [1] and the presence of an Antolin in the liquid is not capable of altering this reaction, which therefore remains the only way of generating the oxonium and hydroxyl ions. In fact, the collision between a water molecule and an Antolin does not generate dissociation but, as seen in the Antolin theory, can at most exchange the electron and reverse the condition; whereas the collision of two Antolins, which are two positive (and nonpolarized) molecules, is disfavored by the repulsive electric field and in any case even if the collision occurred it would not be able to generate OH- and H ₃ O ⁺ .

Instead, it is found that the presence of an Antolin in the liquid leads to a decrease in the dissociation event in two different ways. Firstly, because it reduces the total number of water molecules, thereby decreasing the total number of dissociation events and consequently the total number of dissociated ion pairs. Secondly, because the collision of a water molecule with a “modified” water molecule such as the Antolin interrupts the average sequence of consecutive collisions between water molecules, making the reaction [1] less likely. This dual effect means that as the number of Antolins present in the liquid increases, the number of hydroxyl and oxonium ions gradually decreases. If the percentage of water molecules transformed into Antolins exceeds a certain value, then the effect becomes so preponderant that the remaining “normal” water molecules present in the liquid are no longer able to achieve dissociation [1] because they never reach the average number of consecutive collisions required to trigger dissociation.

Interaction with the life event

During its lifetime, the hydroxyl ion undergoes a series of collisions with surrounding molecules before colliding with its complementary ion. Let us now assume that during its lifetime the hydroxyl ion collides with an Antolin'. in this case, it is possible that the Antolin takes an electron from the hydroxyl ion and that the following reaction occurs

OH- + H ₂ O ⁺ H ₂ O + OH [3 ]

The [3] then produces an OH in the liquid, and therefore the corresponding H ₃ O ⁺ (since it cannot use [2] to neutralize itself) when it hits OH can generate the following reaction:

OH + H ₃ O ⁺ H ₂ O + H ₂ O ⁺ [2a]

In the comparative diagram above, the reaction sequence of normal autoprotolysis is shown at the bottom, and the sequence of autoprotolysis when current flows in the liquid is shown at the top. From the above diagram and formulas, it can be deduced that:

- Oxonium and hydroxyl ions have a lifetime in which they remain distinct in the liquid, the t _ap time duration of which is equivalent to the time from [1] until the intermediate products become two water molecules again with [2],

- The autoprotolysis of water does not cancel out the propagation of the electrical charge through Antolins but slows it down, because the electrical charge “disappears” for a time ton (green stretch) and reappears at the end of the process.

- The OH produced by [3] propagate in the liquid by collisions with Antolins, because when OH collides with an Antolin takes hydrogen from it and they exchange their condition.

The combined effect of the above processes means that the passage of current in an electrolytic cell generates Antolins, which in turn collide with the OH- produced by the autoprotolysis of water to generate the free OH radical. Given a sufficient number of Antolins. it is possible to transform all OH- into OH.

Result

The two interaction modes occur simultaneously and practically independently of each other. The combined effect of the two interactions can most easily be seen experimentally using an AC cell, and to exemplify the interaction the Antolin has with the oxonium and hydroxyl ions, imagine the following experiment with an AC cell: at start-up, with the AC cell switched off, the number of hydroxyl/oxonium pairs produced by the water molecules in the cell that are alive at a given instant is 100. The power supply of the AC cell is switched on and a current is passed through it, which gradually increases in intensity. It can be seen that, as the current intensity increases, the number of hydroxyl/oxonium pairs decreases while the percentage of hydroxyl ions converting to OH increases. Therefore, again by way of example, given I _x as the current intensity at instant x and increasing the intensity as time passes, the following values can be obtained:

Io: 95 pairs and of the 95 hydroxyl ions none converts to OH

I ₁ : 90 pairs and of the 90 hydroxyl ions present 5 convert to OH

I ₂ : 70 pairs and of the 70 hydroxyl ions present 20 convert to OH

I ₃ : 60 pairs and of the 60 hydroxyl ions present 40 convert to OH

I ₄ : 50 pairs and of the 50 hydroxyl ions present all convert to OH

I ₅ : 30 pairs and of the 30 hydroxyl ions present all convert to OH l ₆ : 10 pairs and of the 10 hydroxyl ions present all convert to OH

I ₇ : 0 pairs and consequently no more OH is produced I ₈ : 0 pairs and consequently no more OH is produced There are therefore three significant moments which occur as the current flowing through the cell increases: for current intensity I ₁ which we will call OH. start, the production of OH starts; for current intensity I ₄ which we will call OH. only, the maximum production of OH is obtained, albeit at the cost of a reduction in the total ionic pairs, and from that moment on, all the hydroxyl ions convert to OH; from the current intensity I ₇ which we will call OH. stop, so many Antolins will be present that the inhibition of autoprotolysis takes place and consequently no OH will be produced.

9 - Method for controlling OH radical generation by propagation of electrical charges in the liquid

On the basis of the theoretical considerations outlined, of statistical considerations applied to random collisions between molecules and of experimental findings, it is intended to define a method for the treatment of an aqueous ionic solution placed inside an electrolytic cell which, with the lowest consumption of electrical energy, can maintain the Antolin in the vicinity of the electrodes so as to obtain a value of A _water that maximizes OH production or a value of A _total that inhibits autoprotolysis in the immediate vicinity of the electrodes. In order to obtain a result that is quantitatively appreciable for industrial use, the electrolytic cell must meet the following conditions.

1. Keeping the Antolin inside the cell: for the duration of the treatment, the liquid in the cell must be isolated from water molecules in the connecting pipes, feed or drains, and any separating bulkheads must be made of electrically non- conductive material. Since the electrical charge moves through the liquid by means of collisions between Antolins and adjacent water molecules, it is essential that the Antolin generated does not find a path which causes it to disperse anywhere along the pipes, preventing the achievement of significant concentration values.

2. The electrodes E1, E2 must have at least one face F1, F2 in contact with the liquid of equal area (with a tolerance of 5%) and must be positioned with these faces F1, F2 facing each other at a fixed distance D, which must be between 0.5 and

10 mm, preferably between 1.5 and 4 mm. Let A be a point on the surface of an electrode from which a straight line is drawn perpendicular to its surface meeting the surface of the opposite electrode at B, the electrodes are said to be at a fixed distance if, when it is possible to draw the segment AB, it always has the same length. Based on experimental experience and calculations, it is considered that if the distance between anode and cathode is greater than 10 millimeters, the electrical efficiency of the cell is not acceptable. This condition determines the shape of the electrodes E1, E2, which must have in contact with the liquid at least one flat face F1, F2 either linear or curved, which is necessary to ensure that the distribution of Antolins in the liquid is statistically calculable and thus that the behavior of the cell is predictable and constant. Note that, as shown in Figures 7 and 8, electrodes E1, E2 may have a part, to the left of the dotted line in the examples shown, which is not in contact with the liquid. In this case, the faces F1, F2 are to be understood as only the opposing faces of electrodes E1, E2 that are in contact with the liquid.

3. Place in the cell a quantity of liquid whose maximum volume in cubic millimeters is VOL= Sb × D×2, where Sb is the sum of the areas in square millimeters of faces F1, F2 and D is the fixed distance in millimeters between faces F1, F2. This condition is intended to adjust the number of water molecules to the contact surface between electrode and liquid. The value is based on the statistics of the positive charge displacement mechanism via Antolins. By way of example: it must be possible for an Antolin to cross the distance between the electrodes in a time compatible with the speed of light of 3 x 10 ⁸ m/s. Since the distances between the anode and cathode are in the order of millimeters, e.g. 3 mm, this means that the distance must be traversed in the time of 3 X 10 ^-3 /3× 10 ⁸ = 10 ^-11 seconds, i.e. with a maximum of 10 ⁹ collisions; from which it follows as a first approximation that if 3 ×3 ,22 × 10 ⁶ — 10 ⁷ water molecules can be aligned between one electrode and the other in 3 mm (where 3.22x 10 ⁶ are the molecules present in 1 mm, as can be deduced from the data in chapter 5 above) the charge will have to advance 10 ⁷ positions towards the cathode, and for each single advance there are an average of 100 collisions. As we know, the advancement of the positive charge requires that charge retreat is inhibited, i.e. an Antolin must have another Antolin (or a positive ion) behind it, and therefore the anode surface must be able to generate enough Antolins at any one time that they do not disperse into too much liquid to permit advancement. This calculation also explains why the distance between the electrodes cannot be more than 10 millimeters, as indicated in point 2: referring to the previous example, if the distance increases to 9 mm, the positions to be reached are tripled and the average number of collisions available to advance a single position is reduced to 33, making the event of reaching the cathode statistically less likely.

4. Place at least 50% of the liquid between the electrodes of opposite polarity: as shown in Figures 7 and 8, the water molecules must be between the F1, F2 faces or in the holes of electrodes E1, E2 of opposite polarity because the Antolin is created by collision between water molecule and electrode, and it is essential to maximize the surface area of the electrodes. The molecules located between the Fl, F2 faces of the opposite polarity electrodes E1, E2 occupy a volume (indicated by the darker shading in a grid pattern) which will be called the working region (LAV), while the liquid not in the working region will be in a volume (indicated by the lighter shading in a dotted pattern) called the accumulation region (ACC). Note that this 50% condition is fulfilled even if all the liquid is included in the working region LAV, so the accumulation region ACC may not even be present.

5. The entire liquid of the accumulation region ACC must completely cover at least one electrode, i.e. the electrode must be immersed in the liquid, and must be in contact with air or a gaseous mixture over an air contact surface SCA having an area at least equal to the area of the wetted surface of contact between the electrode and the part of the liquid that is in the accumulation region ACC. Consider that the Antolin created in the working region LAV can reach the cathode and cancel itself out thus reducing the charge between the electrodes, but the Antolin created in the accumulation region ACC has no chance of reaching the cathode and can only propagate where it cannot cancel itself out, and as a result the concentration of electrical charges in the accumulation region ACC (hence the name) immediately becomes remarkably significant. However, this “saturation” means that less and less Antolins will be created from the electrode face in contact with the accumulation region ACC with the result that the Antolin production phenomenon would stop. To avoid this situation, the liquid present in the accumulation region ACC must be in contact with air or a gaseous mixture so that the Antolin can interact with the gaseous molecules present at the water surface, e.g. oxygen, and discharge the charge onto them: in this way, at least part of the Antolins produced in the accumulation region ACC can be cancelled out and the production of Antolins on the electrode face can continue.

6. Only use electrodes that:

- on the face opposite the other electrode do not have holes that pass entirely through the electrode (this electrode will be called a solid electrode), as in Fig.7, or

- have holes which allow the liquid to pass through the electrode (for example a net or grid electrode which we will call a grid-like electrode), as in Fig.8. These gridlike electrodes must all have holes of the same size, each hole cannot have a volume greater than the cube of the distance D between the electrodes as defined in point 2, the total area of the perforated surface of a face must be less than or equal to 50% of the area of the opposite face of a similar solid electrode, and they must be completely immersed in the liquid. The perforated surface of the grid-like electrode ensures that an Antolin created by the anode can reach the accumulation region ACC without being obstructed by constrictions or bottlenecks, which would be the case with a solid electrode because then the passage of the Antolin to the accumulation region ACC could only occur by passing into the liquid present on the outside of the edges of the electrode surface (as in Fig. 7).

7. The replacement of the liquid in the cell must always be carried out respecting the constancy of the quantity, i.e. as much liquid goes out as comes in, and above all it must prevent the Antolin from dispersing outside the cell. Therefore, before inserting liquid into the cell by taking it from the inlet container, it is essential to isolate the quantity of liquid that will enter the cell from the inlet container, so that it is not possible to create a pathway between adjacent water molecules from the incoming liquid to the liquid in the inlet container. Similarly, to remove liquid from the cell, it is essential to isolate it from the residual liquid present in the cell before pouring it into a collecting container.

These seven conditions ensure that in an AC or DC electrolytic cell, the Antolin. which moves by random collisions in the liquid, can be distributed throughout the liquid according to probabilistic laws and reaches its maximum concentration near the anode. If the previous conditions are verified, then it is possible to achieve control of autoprotolysis by operating on the current by applying one of the following additional conditions:

8. To achieve OH formation, a voltage must be applied which generates a passage of charges of the A _water component greater than OH. start = 0.004 A/ml (determined experimentally). The value of 0.004 A/ml also has its own statistical explanation, the detailed definition of which is beyond the scope of this paper. To give an idea of the mechanism, suppose we use two flat rectangular electrodes, one solid and one grid-like with rectangular holes of 1 square millimeter and a perforated surface equal to 50% of the total area, with dimensions 10x 100x 1 millimeters placed at a distance of 1 millimeter. The liquid, which only for simplicity of calculation we assume to be formed by water considering the mass of dissolved ionic compounds negligible, is physically isolated from other liquids and other conductors and for conditions 3 and 4 the maximum total volume that can be occupied by the liquid is 3000 mm ³ = 3 ml given by 1500 mm ³ in the working region (1000 mm ³ between the electrodes + 500 mm ³ between the holes of the grid-like electrode) + 1500 mm ³ in the accumulation region (because at least 50% of the liquid must be in the working region). Considering that in one liter there are about 3.3x 10 ²⁵ molecules of water, this cell contains about 3x 10 ^-3 x3.3x 10 ²⁵ ≃ 10 ²³ molecules of water, and with pH=7 there are at a given instant in that liquid 10 ^-7 mol/liter of OH- i.e. about 3x 10 ^-3 x 10 ^-7 x6x 10 ²³ ≃ 1.8x 10 ¹⁴ molecules of OH- (where 6x 10 ²³ is Avogadro's number). The passage of a current of 0.004 Ampere in the absence of electrolysis means that the liquid is traversed every second by at least 0.004x6x 10 ¹⁸ = 2.4x 10 ¹⁶ electrical charges carried by Antolins (where 6x 10 ¹⁸ is the number of charges required to generate a current of 1 Ampere).

Given that the charges must pass through the liquid between the electrodes and that they are created continuously, it can be assumed as a first approximation that the number of charges present at each instant in the liquid is equal to the value of charges transferred in one second. Thus, there is one charge for every approximately 4.17× 10 ⁶ water molecules in the liquid and the charges present are approximately 133 times the number of hydroxyl ions present. For the Interaction Theory, this superiority of charges over hydroxyl ions, made slightly larger by the small reduction of autoprotolysis, determines with great probability that some OH- is transformed into OH. In particular, this numerical difference increases further in the accumulation region ACC when the grid-like electrode becomes anode. Experiences confirm this condition, which can be achieved not only by AC cells, but also by DC cells to which voltages below Vthreshoid are applied.

9. In order to inhibit the production of OH, i.e. to prevent the autoprotolysis of water in the vicinity of the electrodes, a voltage must be applied which generates a passage of charges of the A _water component greater than OH. stop = 6 A/ml of the liquid to be treated (determined experimentally), preferably by placing all the liquid in the working region LAV. The value also has its own statistical explanation, the detailed definition of which is beyond the scope of this writing. Going back to the example in the previous point, the current flow of 6 Amperes per milliliter means that the charges per second in the liquid are 6×6× 10 ¹⁸ = 3.6× 10 ¹⁹ , i.e. one charge for every approximately 2.78 x 10 ³ water molecules, and the charges are two hundred thousand times more than the number of hydroxyl ions. In the immediate vicinity of the electrode, where we know that both Antolins and ions are concentrated, the ratio of electric charge to water molecules is as low as 1 charge for every few tens of water molecules. For the Interaction Theory, the scarcity of water molecules adjacent to each other leads to a reduction in the Dissociation event, and for the current value indicated, it will be extremely unlikely that oxonium and hydroxyl ions, let alone the OH radical, will be generated in the vicinity of the electrodes. Experiences confirm that for current values below 6 A/ml, this result does not occur.

10 - Applications of the method

Below are three actual cases of application of the method using the three cell types defined in section 6: active, passive and hybrid.

We wish to emphasize that on the basis of current knowledge, none of the results presented herein can be achieved with traditional devices, and that these results constitute not only an indirect experimental demonstration of the theories enunciated but constitute an absolute innovation in application sectors of global interest for the reduction of environmental pollution and energy consumption.

10.1 - Generation of the OH radical: DC cell with 10% CaCh solution for CO ₂ storage

The following demonstrates a use of Antolin maximization, which will be used to capture carbon dioxide in the air and put it into a stable compound.

Consider the electrolytic cell in which the electrodes connected to the two poles of a power supply consist of a 50x 100x 1 millimeter zinc plate and a zinc grid of the same size as the plate with square holes of 1 mm side on 50% of the surface. The plate is placed horizontally, and the grid is superimposed on the plate, spacing it 2 mm apart. 12.5 ml of a 10% aqueous solution of CaCh are poured into the center of the device while waiting for the liquid to distribute spontaneously between the grid and the plate; the temperature of the solution is 20°C and the experiment is carried out at room temperature. In this way, the liquid in contact with the plate is not in contact with air while the liquid in contact with the grid is in contact with air.

Initially an AC generator is used: once it is switched on and the AC voltage is set at K1=2.5V, it is verified that a current of 0.6A flows in the circuit and that the liquid begins to produce bubbles and a white gelatinous foam that gradually occupies the entire area of the liquid in contact with air. We now replace the AC generator with a DC generator with the positive pole connected to the grid and the negative pole to the plate: once switched on, we find that there is no passage of charges up to a voltage value of p2=3 V, that the passage of current generates electrolysis on both electrodes and that there is no white foam. The polarities are now reversed by connecting the grid to the negative pole and the plate to the positive pole: once the DC generator is switched on, it is verified that a current of 0.4A flows in the circuit from the voltage V ₃ = 1V, electrolysis with hydrogen release is produced at the cathode, and at the same time bubbles and a white gelatinous foam form on the surface of the liquid.

The cell meets the conditions 1 to 6 of the method. The DC power supply is switched off, it is verified that the white gelatinous foam remains stable and that it becomes a whitish powder when placed in an oven at 300 degrees. Analysis of the solid compound shows that it is predominantly CaCO ₃ and to a lesser extent ZnCO ₃ . Since the liquid did not contain any carbon, which is instead present in the final product, this must necessarily have been taken from the air with which the liquid is in contact, and the most plausible form is CO ₂ . The presence of zinc carbonate is explained by the fact that the anode releases Zn ⁺⁺ ions into the liquid which, although numerically smaller than the Ca ⁺⁺ ions, also interact with CO ₂ .

The following explanation of this phenomenon is given by considering what happens in the liquid, excluding the molecules that do not give rise to significant reactions and showing the most probable reactions in bold.

The anode can be impacted by H ₂ O and Cl- and give rise to the following reactions: H ₂ O H ₂ O ⁺ + e forming the A _water component [4]

2C1 Cl ₂ (g) + 2e [5]

The cathode can be impacted by H ₂ O ⁺ , Ca ⁺⁺ and Zn ⁺⁺ and give rise to the following reactions:

H ₂ O ⁺ + e- → H ₂ O (Antolin cancellation) [6]

Ca ⁺⁺ + e- → Ca ⁺ participating in the A _{ions.transport} component [7a]

Zn ⁺⁺ + e- → Zn ⁺ participating in the A _{ions.transport} component [7b] which can be followed, due to the presence of many Antolins and to the current maximizing OH production in the liquid:

Ca ⁺ + H ₂ O ⁺ CaO + 2H ⁺ [8a] and also

Ca ⁺ + OH CaO + H ⁺ [8b] with the calcium oxide immediately becoming

CaO + H ₂ O → Ca(OH) ₂ + 15.5 kcal/mol CaO (spontaneous) [8.1] Both reactions [8a], [8b] produce hydrogen that arrives at the cathode

2H ⁺ + 2e H _2(g) forming the A _ions .collision component [9]

On the surface of the liquid in contact with air, carbon dioxide dissolves in water according to: CO _{2 (g} + 2H ₂ O — H2CO ₃ + H ₂ O (spontaneous) [10]

At this point, the presence in the vicinity of the liquid surface of the OH ion, of the Ca ⁺⁺ ion and of the unstable carbonic acid allows two different reactions to develop, independent of each other but which can occur simultaneously to a lesser or greater extent depending on the situation. The first (which is summarized for ease of exposition):

Ca(OH) ₂ + H ₂ CO ₃ CaCO ₃ + 2H ₂ O [12a]

The second:

H ₂ CO ₃ + H ₂ O HCO ₃ - + H ₃ O ⁺ [11]

HCO ₃ - → H ⁺ + CO ₃ (spontaneous but slow) [11.1a]

HCO ₃ - + OH →CO ₃ — + H ₂ O ⁺ (induced) [11.1b]

Ca ⁺⁺ + CO ₃ — CaCO ₃ [12b]

Zn ⁺⁺ + CO ₃ -- → ZnCO ₃ [12c]

Due to the applied voltages, the cell is a Hybrid Cell because the anode produces Antolins and releases zinc ions but does not react with chlorine because a barrier of Zn ⁺⁺ ions and Antolins is formed in front of the anode, surrounding the Cl- ions and preventing them from touching the positive electrode and reacting ([5] does not occur). At the cathode, electrolysis takes place with both components of A _ions , A _{ions.collision} (due to the cancellation of hydrogen ions formed by reactions [8a], [8b] and [10]) and A _{ions.transport} , since the Ca ⁺⁺ ion is able to touch the cathode and exchange an electron because it is in an area where there are many Antolins (positive), making it less likely to create a cloud of polarized water molecules around it, and above all because the electrical charge of Ca ⁺⁺ is greater than all the positive ions in the vicinity of the electrode and therefore the attractive force of the electrode favors it over the other ions to reach the cathode.

Once Ca ⁺ becomes an ion, however, it competes with the much more numerous and faster hydrogen ions and Antolins, whereby the reaction Ca ⁺ + e- → Ca° is absolutely at a disadvantage and irrelevant to the process under consideration. The same reasoning applies to the Zn ⁺⁺ ions present in the liquid and released by the anode. The Antolins produced by [5] are partially cancelled out by [6] and in the transformation of OH- into OH radicals. There is, however, an imbalance for the value of A _water > A _ions which generates a cyclic chain effect: the increase in Antolins reduces autoprotolysis, which in turn reduces the number of OH in the vicinity of the carbonic acid, and as a result fewer H ⁺ ions are generated which reduce the A _ions current, which leads to a reduction in Antolin production which returns to the original value, allowing the sequence to be repeated. The current varies cyclically in a sinusoidal pattern over a period of about 10 seconds between a maximum and a minimum.

Continuous treatment can be obtained by placing the plate on a support inclined at 45° and letting the liquid containing the CaCl ₂ fall onto the grid via a dripper, so that by gravity the liquid drops from the bottom of the plate and falls into a collection vessel, from which it is pumped into the feed tank to which the dripper is connected. The plate is spaced out from both the dripper and the collection vessel, so that both the incoming and outgoing droplets must pass through a section in the air, thus being electrically isolated and separated from any liquid, thus preventing the dispersion of Antolins.

The DC cell with a negative pole on the grid-like electrode can be used to extract CO ₂ from the air and simultaneously store it in a stable compound. The hydrogen gas produced could be collected and used separately. A similar result could also be achieved with an AC cell with a power frequency >1kHz, but this produces less calcium carbonate for the same power consumption.

It must be emphasized that no conventional cell is capable of obtaining CaCO ₃ at room temperature and with very low power consumption other than a cell with the configuration described here. In fact, any Active Cell, regardless of the material with which the electrodes are formed and the voltages or currents applied, cannot achieve this result because the electrolytic reactions on both electrodes reduce the A _water component to negligible values and such that it is unable to produce OH, thus preventing reactions [8a], [8b] and [11.1b] from taking place. A Passive Cell is not feasible because the hydrogen ions produced by reactions [8a] and [8b] must necessarily neutralize on the cathode.

The Hybrid Cell, as per the theory outlined above, is the only way to achieve significant production of Antolins, which in turn generate OH, and at the same time neutralize the hydrogen ions that are produced by the calcium carbonate formation reactions. The particular composition of the cell, in particular the use of a metal anode that dissolves in the liquid without interacting with the ions present, allows for the significant generation of both the A _water component and the A _ions component: the production of OH added to the electrolysis on the cathode makes it possible to create an absolutely innovative system capable of producing constant results that are always reproducible and otherwise unattainable. Of all suitable materials for the anode, zinc is the most advantageous in terms of both cost and availability.

The advantage of this solution for CO ₂ storage is very considerable, because calcium carbonate is a solid and stable product at room temperature and is obtained from calcium chloride, which is the by-product of the Solvay process that is normally considered as waste to be disposed of. It is also possible to dissolve other products besides calcium chloride in water, such as CaCO ₄ or MgCl ₂ (in this case, magnesium carbonate is obtained) or NaCl (in this case, only zinc carbonate is obtained as a result of the dissolution of the anode). Furthermore, it is clear that increasing the concentration of the solution, up to saturation, will proportionally increase the amount of CO ₂ that can be captured.

The Zn ⁺⁺ ion that dissolves and does not bind to CO ₂ accumulates in the liquid circulating in a closed circuit and can be recovered periodically with a separate device to reform a new anode. In addition, when producing calcium or magnesium carbonate, ZnCh can also be dissolved in water to limit anode consumption.

The electrical power required to power a large-scale process could be obtained by using wind or hydroelectric power plants at night and photovoltaic panels during the day. Before illustrating the next experiment, it is interesting to demonstrate via the Antolin theory why the DC cell with a positive pole on the grid and a negative pole on the plate only operates at voltages V2 at least three times as high as V 3, generating electrolysis but no carbonate production. In this case, the Antolins are created by the grid-like electrode on both faces of the anode and, as we have just discussed, the components A _ions .transport and A _ions . _co iitsion are discharged at the cathode, but in this case the cathode in order to be reached by the hydrogen ions of [11] and [11.1a] which are produced near the surface of the liquid in contact with the air must pass through the area where the anode which is generating the Antolins is present.

The propagation of the hydrogen ion takes place by collision, but the collision between the H ₃ O ⁺ molecule and an Antolin cannot result in an exchange of the bond with hydrogen, so the Antolins produced by the anode create a barrier of positive charges to the movement of the H ₃ O ⁺ ion, which being unable to reach the cathode does not allow to collect on the latter’s surface enough electrical charge to attract the calcium ions. For this reason, the initial production of Antolins is unable to initiate electrolysis, and consequently no current flows through the circuit. The moment the voltage applied to the electrodes is increased, the electrical force of attraction towards the ions also increases, and the chlorine ion begins to strike the anode; the production of Antolins is then reduced, the hydrogen ions are able to pass towards the cathode, and electrolysis also starts on the cathode. No calcium carbonate is generated because this is an Active Cell, and since the value of A _water is minimal and does not generate OH radicals, [11.1b], [12b] and [12c] cannot be obtained, and since the Ca ⁺ ion is far from the surface in contact with air, [8a] and [8b] cannot be obtained.

10.2 - Generation of the OH radical: AC cell for bacterial abatement in civil wastewater

The free OH radical is very useful in the treatment of bacteria-polluted liquids because it is known to attack bacterial cells and lead them to death. The use of an AC- powered Passive Cell with frequency >lkHz with stainless steel electrodes is extremely advantageous in this field because, a fundamental aspect, it does not alter the original liquid as the electrodes do not interact measurably with the substances dissolved in the water, and the production of OH occurs directly in the liquid with the lowest possible cost of electrical energy since the total electric current that circulates in the cell is formed by the A _water component only, which is the only one that can generate OH.

As there is a great international effort to eliminate chlorination from the wastewater purification pathway by replacing it with other methods, due to the by- products that chlorine generates, there are many ongoing experiments with the most diverse techniques. The effects that the use of OH can have on bacteria and on the amount of oxygen useful for decontaminating a water (Chemical Oxygen Demand=COD) make this method very interesting, and they are the subject of numerous experiments which, however, all suffer from an ineradicable flaw: the devices modify the characteristics of the treated water intended for human or animal use because they involve the use of Active Cells.

In fact, the Active Cell produces different reactions on the two poles, and it is obvious that if you put a compound into the water that obtains OH on one pole, on the other pole you will have a different reaction and therefore great attention must be paid to the study of additional compounds and the materials with which the electrodes of each pole are made. Not to mention that, for example in the treatment of civil wastewater, anomalous substances resulting from illicit spills in the sewers may be present in the water to be treated, which could participate in the electrolytic reactions of the Active Cell, perhaps creating compounds more dangerous to human or animal life than the original ones. For this reason, Hybrid Cells are also unsuitable for the treatment of water intended for human or animal use, because even if you can limit electrolysis to the cathode alone, you can never be completely certain that no undesired reactions will occur.

We know from the Interaction Theory that charge propagation in the liquid obtains a maximum value of OH in the liquid only when the A _water component is OH.only=Q.Q5 A/ml (value determined experimentally with a tolerance of about 15%). It follows that with lower or much higher values of current flowing through the cell, no appreciable results are obtained, and that increasing the electrical power applied to the cell does not lead to an improvement in bacterial abatement, but on the contrary, leads to a worsening for sure.

That being said, consider an AC cell in which the electrodes consist of a 200x200x 1 millimeter stainless steel plate and a stainless steel grid of the same size as the plate and with square holes of 1 mm side on 50% of the surface. The plate is arranged horizontally, and the grid is superimposed on the plate, spacing it 2 mm apart. The electrodes are connected to the two poles of an AC power supply operating at a frequency ƒ=2 kHz. 120 ml of a water sample collected from a purification plant is poured, before the water is poured into the final treatment tank with chlorination, and one waits for the liquid to distribute spontaneously between the grid and the plate. Then, a voltage value is applied to the AC cell such that it provides 6 Amperes of current without generating electrolysis: the cell now meets the conditions 1 to 6 of the method.

The voltage value may vary depending on the sample taken, since the composition of the water taken varies throughout the year, but it is generally of the order of 3 Volts. Leaving the generator switched on for 3 seconds results in a 99% reduction in the value of Escherichia coli at the end of the treatment.

The OH radical can act in all the volume of the liquid, and therefore on all cells anywhere in the liquid of the electrolytic cell, because: a) OH can be produced anywhere in the liquid; b) OH are able to move around in the liquid, during their lifetime, by collision with an Antolin. Thus, referring to paragraph 3, it is possible, for example, that an OH created not in the vicinity of a bacterium can reach it via successive collisions with Antolins during the ton period.

The economic cost of the electrical consumption of the purification treatment depends solely on the voltage value that must be applied to the electrodes to obtain the OH. only value, but it is advisable, in order to build a truly functional device in a civil purification plant, to seek a compromise between the maximum approach of the electrodes and the amount of water that can be treated in the unit of time.

The experimentation being carried out at a large purification plant treating 10 million liters/year allowed the inventor to define the Antolin theory, and to verify the technical feasibility of an industrial apparatus capable of treating the required quantity of water at an extremely low and commercially acceptable electrical cost, even if higher than the cost of chlorination.

Unlike all other purification systems based on electric current in contact with the liquid, it must be emphasized that the methodology proposed here, as well as being effective, can be defined as “clean” because the disinfectant element is directly produced in the water by the water itself.

10.3 - Inhibition of autoprotolysis: AC cell with 0.9% NaCl saline solution used as a heating element

Inhibition of the autoprotolysis of water in the immediate vicinity of the electrodes opens up vast possibilities for the development of innovative electrochemical processes. In order to understand the enormous industrial advantages offered by this new methodology, it is essential to outline how the process works.

It must be borne in mind that, in the light of what described above, it should be evident that all traditional electrolytic processes with Active Cells carried out in aqueous solutions occur in a liquid in which hydroxyl and oxonium ions are always produced and present. In fact, it should be remembered that the insertion of a solute in water can generate ions that can bind numerically unequally to the ions produced by autoprotolysis, thus generating a surplus of oxonium or hydroxyl ions that remains over time. In fact, the surplus does not act on the dissociation event but only on the recombination, and the generation of hydroxyl and oxonium ions in the liquid remains constant and continuous for all the instants of time after the solute has been placed in the water; therefore, OH- and H ₃ O ⁺ will always be present in the vicinity of the electrodes regardless of the substances dissolved in the water. The constant presence of these ions in the vicinity of the electrodes influences and determines which types of chemical reactions can take place at the electrodes.

In an AC Active Cell with a frequency >lkHz, reaching the significant OH. stop value implies that hydroxyl and oxonium ions are missing in the immediate vicinity of the electrodes, and that water is predominantly present in its modified Antolin form: under these conditions, electrochemical reactions can occur at the electrodes that differ from those that would occur if the cell were supplied with lower current values. To clarify the phenomenon, its dynamics and the scope of the innovation, an easily realizable and always reproducible experimental case is illustrated:

- consider an AC cell in which the electrodes consist of two 100x 100x 1 millimeter stainless steel plates connected to the two poles of the AC generator;

- a plate is arranged horizontally and a circular plastic gasket 15 mm in diameter and 1.1 mm thick is placed in the center of the plate;

- 0.2 ml of a 0.9% NaCl saline solution is poured inside the gasket so as to fill to the brim the area between the gasket and the plate;

- superimpose the second plate so that the liquid present in the gasket touches one face of both plates and press the two plates together so that the liquid present cannot escape;

- the temperature of the saline solution and the plates is 20°C;

- switch on the AC power supply with =2kHz and voltage such that it produces an amount of current less than OH. only, i.e. in this case less than 0.01A, and you will notice that the plates do not heat up and that no noise is heard;

- increase the voltage so as to increase the value of the current circulating in the cell, and you will notice that for current values lower than OH. stop, i.e. lower than 1.2A, the plates do not heat up;

- by further increasing the voltage, the OH. stop current value is exceeded and a soft noise of continuous bursts begins to be heard while the plates increase in temperature by one degree;

- once the voltage of 10V is reached, a current of 2A circulates in the cell and in this condition the generator is left on for 8 seconds, after which the power supply is switched off.

It can be seen that when the value A _total = 2A is reached, the cell produces noise, the plates begin to heat up, and in the area where the liquid is in contact with the plates the temperature measured externally on the steel plate reaches a maximum value of 100°C, while at the same time an increase in temperature of at least 10°C is measured on the rest of the plates. It can be verified that the heat produced on the plates is far greater than the 160 J spent to power the cell, a clear sign that an exothermic reaction is taking place inside the cell.

The following explanation of the phenomenon is given by considering what happens in the liquid, excluding molecules that do not give rise to significant reactions, and showing the most probable reactions in bold.

The anode can be hit by H ₂ O, H ₂ O ⁺ and Cl- and give rise to: H ₂ O → H ₂ O ⁺ + e- (Antolin formation) [4]

H ₂ O ⁺ → H ₂ O ⁺⁺ + e (due to the many Antolins near the electrode) [13] which can be followed by:

H ₂ O ⁺⁺ + H ₂ O ⁺⁺ O ₂ (g) + 4H ⁺ + heat [13 1] or by:

H ₂ O ⁺⁺ + H ₂ O 2H ₂ O ⁺ [13.2]

2Cl- Cl ₂ + 2e- [5]

The cathode can be hit by H ₂ O ⁺ , H ₂ O ⁺⁺ , H ⁺ and Na ⁺ and give rise to:

H ₂ O ⁺⁺ + e H ₂ O ⁺ [14]

H ₂ O ⁺ + e- → H ₂ O (Antolin cancellation) [6]

4H ⁺ + 4e- → 2H _2(g) [15]

Na ⁺ + e- →Na° [16] which is immediately followed by: 2Na° + 2H ₂ O 2NaOH + H ₂ + heat [16.1]

The reaction [13] can be explained by the large number of Antolins present in the immediate vicinity of the electrode: in fact, it cannot be ruled out that an Antolin will in any case collide with the positive electrode, because if the Antolins present in large numbers in the vicinity of the electrode never touched the positive electrode, it would mean that the electrode would be physically isolated from the liquid and would have no pressure on its surface, which cannot be the case. So the collision of an Antolin with the positive electrode must occur, and then it can happen that this collision causes the oxygen atom of the Antolin to lose the second of its outer orbital electrons, thus making it an Antolin plus. Since [13] takes place in the immediate vicinity of the electrodes where there is little presence of water molecules, reaction [13.1] has a great advantage over [13.2], The four hydrogen ions produced by [13.1] will be transformed by [15] into H2 hydrogen atoms upon polarity reversal. Reaction [5] does not take place because already normally the Cl- ions would be surrounded by a cloud of polarized water molecules that would make its path to the anode difficult, but since the ion is in an area where more Antolins (positive) than normal water molecules are present, the Cl- ion is surrounded by a “persistent” cloud of Antolins and its path to the cathode is further impeded.

With reaction [14], the Antolins plus that were generated by [13] but not utilized by reaction [13.2] at the previous polarity reversal of the electrode become Antolins again. Regarding reaction [16], normally the Na ⁺ ions would be surrounded by a cloud of polarized water molecules that would make their path to the cathode difficult but, since the ion is in an area where more Antolins (positive) than normal water molecules are present the Na ⁺ ion is not surrounded by a cloud and its path to the cathode is not impeded. The Na ⁺ ion is then in competition at the cathode with the Antolin or Antolin plus which have faster displacements so that [16] occurs, but only episodically.

As a consequence of [13.1], and also of the less frequent [16.1], so much heat is formed in the liquid that the gaseous hydrogen and oxygen, produced in [13.1] and [15], can be ignited and explode back into water (hence the noise heard during operation) according to:

2H2(g) + O2(g) → 2H ₂ O + heat [17]

The water thus produced temporarily reduces the concentration of Antolins and brings the liquid back to a condition in which the sequence can be repeated cyclically.

The overall effect of these phenomena is that as soon as the critical concentration of Antolins in the liquid is reached, chemical reactions are initiated at the electrodes, which alternately generate oxygen and hydrogen gas that burn to form water again, reforming the original volume of liquid (so that the process can be repeated cyclically), and that the overall heat produced by [13.1], [16.1] and [17] causes the liquid to heat up, which in turn heats up the electrodes to a greater extent than if the electrodes were traversed by the current circulating in the electrolytic cell. The heat in Joules that can be measured on the plates is also greater than the sum of the Joules expended to power the cell and the heat in Joules produced by the combustion of gaseous hydrogen and oxygen in [17], and it is therefore justified that [13.1] produces heat because, due to its episodic nature, the heat produced by [16.1] cannot be considered effective.

This apparatus can be used as a heating element as an alternative to a resistor, for example in a domestic water heater, because it is capable of achieving energy savings of at least 50%.

This experiment is further indirect proof of the validity of the Antolin Theory and the Interaction Theory, which are able to explain why these events occur in AC cells and do not occur or occur in a different way in other cell types that are based on traditional electrolysis with ionic charge transport. As counter evidence, it is sufficient to repeat the experiment by replacing the AC power supply with a DC power supply or by using an AC power supply with a frequency lower than 1kHz to immediately verify that nothing of the kind described occurs.

Prospects

The possibility of inhibiting autoprotolysis with an AC Active Cell with a power supply frequency >lkHz may open up new applications in the field of electrochemistry, the experimental case given as an example being just one of the infinite possibilities this methodology offers. It could be possible to carry out electrochemical reactions on ionic compounds dissolved in water without allowing the hydroxyl and oxonium ions, which are generally the most reactive components, to interact; thus, it will be possible to obtain compounds and reactions that are impossible to obtain with traditional methodology to date. In addition, by modifying the composition of the electrodes, it will be possible to make only the positive (or negative) ions act without having a counter-reaction at the other pole.