GB895352A - Water electrolyzer - Google Patents

Abstract

895,352. Electrolytic cells. RUHRCHEMIE A.G., and STEINKOHLEN-ELEKTRIZITAT A.G. July 16, 1958 [Aug. 1, 1957], No. 22775/58. Drawings to Specification. Class 41. An electrolytic cell, e.g. for electrolysing water, comprises a cathode consisting wholly or in part of Raney nickel, and an anode consisting wholly or in part of Raney nickel, Raney silver, or silver. Raney nickel and Raney silver are produced by dissolving out the alloying metal (e.g. Al, Zn or Mg) from an alloy of that metal with Ni and Ag respectively. The electrodes may be made by mixing a pulverulent Raney alloy of Ni or Ag with a powder of the pure metal constituting the active constituent of the alloy, i.e. Ni or Ag, respectively, pressing, sintering and dissolving out the alloying metal, to obtain an electrode comprising a nickel or silver skeleton in which particles of Raney nickel or Raney silver are embedded, to provide a double skeleton electrode, e.g. as described in Specification 806,644. The ratio of pure metal to Raney alloy in the original mixture may be 1: 1. The anode may comprise a substrate, e.g. a steel plate, having a coating of the Raney nickel, Raney silver or silver, and the cathode may similarly comprise a Raney nickel coating on a substrate. The coating may be provided by pressing and sintering a powdered alloy layer with or without finely-divided metallic skeleton material on the substrate and dissolving out the alloying metal. When the anode is Raney silver or silver, a diaphragm resistant to silver peroxide and impermeable to silver ions, e.g. p-phenylene diamine formaldehyde resin, is employed between the electrodes. If bipolar electrodes are employed, the anode surfaces should comprise Raney nickel as the active constituent.