Electrolysis requires energy.
Where does the energy come from and how long does it last?
Just over a year ago several media outlets reported that John Kanzius, an amateur inventor from Erie, Pa., had discovered a seemingly impossible phenomenon: a way to burn salt water by exposing it to radio waves. Videos of the experiment became YouTube sensations, though they garnered as many critical comments as favorable ones. Now that the initial fervor has waned, we checked in with Kanzius, a collaborator and some critics to see how the technique has progressed, or if it's just another example of Web-propelled junk science.
Kanzius' concept is simple: expose salt water to 13.56 MHz radio waves and light a match. Hydrogen separates from the water mixture and burns for as long as it's exposed to the frequency. The inventor actually made this discovery by accident: He was looking for a cure for cancer. Kanzius demonstrated it to local TV news stations as well as to Rustum Roy, a Penn State University geochemistry professor emeritus.
Roy collaborated with Kanzius on a paper confirming that radio frequency waves do indeed dissociate salt water into hydrogen and oxygen, and that the resulting mixture can be burned. News of the discovery was published in Materials Research Innovations (download PDF), a journal founded by Roy himself.
Burning hydrogen and oxygen to create energy is nothing new: It's been done in machines and automobiles for years. But the difference with Kanzius' would-be breakthrough is that the effect can be achieved with a much lower energy catalyst: radio waves are present in everything from microwaves to televisions. Roy cautions, however, that efficiency is still a major hurdle: "Nobody is claiming that you get more energy out than you put in," he says.
International interest in the technique has been huge, according to Kanzius and Roy. They say that researchers in countries such as France have begun using radio frequency in experiments that call for separating hydrogen from water. However, domestic investors have not been forthcoming, and the scientific community has been dubious. Richard Saykally, a chemistry professor at the University of California at Berkeley, called the recent paper's claims "pseudo-science" in an interview with Chemical and Engineering News.
Gary Friedman, a professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering departments at Drexel University in Philadelphia, says Kanzius' discovery is far from groundbreaking. "People have reported for some time that electromagnetic radiation can enhance or affect water hydrolysis," he says. Still, he's not completely uninterested in their claims. "It seems promising, if it's true, that the electrolysis of water can be carried out without electrodes." Because electrodes wear out or change their behavior over time, Kanzius' method may require less maintenance than traditional electrolysis, which uses an electric current to separate hydrogen from water.
Kanzius and Roy hope that the increasing focus on the environment will enable them to get funding to continue their research. They even envision a future in which a vehicle can run off its radio's frequency waves.
But don't start filling your gas tank with salt water just yet.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a2840/4271398