An Experimental Analysis of Electrolysis: Identifying the Optimal Electrolyte Type and Electrolyte Concentration in Oxyhydrogen Production

The objective of this study is to experiment on the process of electrolysis and identify the optimal electrolyte between Sodium Chloride, Sodium Bicarbonate, and Sodium Hydroxide for oxyhydrogen production. The optimal electrolyte will be identified based on observed bubbling, observed effects on the electrolysis cell and their trend, and the rate of change of the effects for each electrolyte. The experiment was conducted for 45 minutes on each electrolyte, and observations were recorded at 5-minute intervals on a Likert scale. The effects observed and recorded on a Likert scale were foaming, deterioration, and turbidity. The data from the Likert scale was then treated using Mann-Kendall and Sen’s Slope statistical treatment, and based on the analyzed and contextualized data, the researchers concluded that Sodium Hydroxide is the optimal electrolyte to use in electrolysis for oxyhydrogen production. As it had the highest conductivity, the most bubbling, and the second least negative effects observed amongst the three electrolytes tested. KEYWORDS: Electrolysis, Oxyhydrogen, Sodium Hydroxide, Sodium Chloride, Sodium Bicarbonate.