Importance of electrolysis in our daily lives

INTRODUCTION
In 1800, two Englishmen, William Nicholson and Anthony Carlisle, used an electric current to decompose water into its element, hydrogen and oxygen. This is an example of electrolysis. Electrolysis is the process of using electricity to break down or decompose a compound. It has a few main components – a battery, electrodes and an electrolyte. There are many applications of electrolysis.

Electroplating is one of the main areas where electrolysis is implemented.

ELECTROPLATING
It is the coating of one metal over the other which is called electroplating. It is done for few reasons to benefit us:

1. Resistance to corrosion and increased life span
2. Provision of insulation
3. Better appearance for e.g. chrome, nickel or silver can produce a mirror like finish

Resistance to corrosion and increased life span: A coat of one less valuable metal on a more valuable metal can be very beneficial. For example if zinc is electroplated on iron then it would protect iron from getting corroded and would ensure proper usage.

Provision of insulation: Insulating materials can be electroplated for safety of living organisms. Plastic for example can be electroplated on copper or aluminum for protection from shocks.

Better appearance: this one of the most common method used for everyday life coating. Electroplating of silver, chrome or nickel protects the base metal from corrosion, or scratches as well as provides a shiny attractive appearance for decorations or jewelry.

ELECTROTYPING
This is a much of a decorative or labelling where a wax figure is made of desired shape and coated with carbon and used as an electrode which can deposit metals forming a solid plate made of a thin sheet of pure metal e.g., copper metal.

ELECTROLYTIC PURIFICATION
In Today’s age, there is high demand for very pure metals. Electrolysis can be used to purify metals, such as purification of copper. A pure bar of cathode attached to the cathode can have deposits of that metal from the impure metal electrode from the anode.

ELECTRO-REPAIRING
This is a techniques used for repairing of broken machinery. The whole surface of the broken/damaged object or component is covered with wax except where the repair is needed and is made the cathode and dipped in an electrolysis bath. The metals deposits on the dent or the part open part. After enough metal is deposited, by further machinery it can provide the exact shape wanted.

ELECTRIC CELL
One of the most common used every day object, the battery cell, uses the electrolysis for voltage difference. It essentially reverses electrolysis. It is made by placing two different metals in contact with an electrolyte. The metals act as the electrodes for a simple cell. The farther away the two metals in the reactivity series, the higher voltage and current is produced.

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WATER ELECTROLYSIS
The water is one of the most common and the oldest technique discovered by scientist. Today it is used in many places. Water electrolysis is helping for a safer poultry industry. It is also used for collecting oxygen and hydrogen separately for their specific purposes, like for use of oxygen in the oxygen tanks which also contains argon. Hydrogen can be used as fuel or it is used in massive quantities in the petroleum and chemical industries.

HAIR REMOVAL

A minor but very useful method of looking good in society is electrolysis hair removal. Electrolysis hair removal is the only method approved by the FDA for without requiring multiple sessions, permanent hair removal isn't 100% guaranteed for everyone.

A minor use is in the capacitors which stores electricity and provides it when switching on something.

ADDITIONAL BENEFITS/USES OF ELECTROLYSIS

DISADVANTAGES OF ELECTROLYSIS

Electroplating works on a molecular level, so it may forms an extremely thin layer, so either we use only one thin layer or provide multiple coating to it. When ions of the superior metal adhere to the base metal it is often uneven or bumpy which creates a problem. Even though the coating is good, the coating can be easily cracked or is brittle, especially true with chrome. Plating companies produce large amounts of pollution which creates other troubles like diseases are created.

In hair removal should the needle enter and an electric charge is discharged into the skin, you could get a scar.

In machineries using electrolysis it is difficult to coat internal diameters and there are dry torque problems. It consumes space in the shop or factory and also might generate waste chemicals which can be harmful to the environment and also may contain the valuable metal.

Modern Day Use

Electrolysis has many uses in modern day society. One of them is purifying aluminum. Aluminum is usually produced from the mineral bauxite. The first step they do is to treat the bauxite so it becomes more pure and ends up as aluminum oxide, . Then they melt the aluminum oxide and puts it in an oven. When the aluminum oxide is melted the compound dissociates into its corresponding ions, and . This is where the electrolysis comes in. The walls of the oven function as a cathode and blocks of carbon hanging from above works as an anode. When there is current through the melted aluminum oxide the aluminum ions will move towards the cathode where they will gain electrons and become aluminum metal. The negative oxygen ions will move towards the anode and will there give away some of their electrons and form oxygen and other compounds. The electrolysis of aluminum oxide demands a lot of energy and with modern technology the energy consumption is 12-14 kWh per kg of aluminum (Kofstad).

Electroplating is another use of electrolysis. In electroplating electrolysis is used to put a thin layer of a certain metal over another metal. This is especially useful if you want to prevent corrosion in certain metals, for example iron. Electroplating is done by using the metal you want to have coated in a specific metal act as the cathode in the electrolysis of a solution. The cation of this solution would then be the metal that is wanted as a coating for the cathode. When current then is applied to the solution, the positive cations will move towards the negative cathode where they will gain electrons and form a thin coating around the cathode. To prevent corrosion in certain metals, zinc is often used as the coating metal. Electroplating can also be used to improve the appearance of metals. Using a silver solution will coat a metal with a thin layer of silver so the metal appears to be silver (Christensen).

Future Use

In the future, electrolysis will have many new uses. Our use of fossil fuels will eventually end and the economy will move from being based on fossil fuels to being based on hydrogen (Kroposki 4). Hydrogen in itself will not act as an energy source but rather an energy carrier. The use of hydrogen will have many advantages over fossil fuels. First of all the use of hydrogen will emit less greenhouse gases when it is used compared to fossil fuels. It can also be produced from clean energy sources which makes the emission of greenhouse gases even less (Kroposki 4). The use of hydrogen fuel cells will improve the efficiency of hydrogen as a fuel source, mainly in transportation. A hydrogen fuel cell has an efficiency of 60 % (Nice 4). That is 3 times as much as the efficiency of a fossil fuel powered car with about 20 % efficiency, which loses a lot of energy as heat to the surrounding environment. The hydrogen fuel cell has less movable parts and does not lose as much energy during its reaction. Another advantage of hydrogen as a future energy carrier is that it is easy to store and distribute and it can be done in many ways (Kroposki 4). This is where it has its advantage over electricity as the energy carrier of the future. Electricity requires a large network of wires to be distributed, and storage of electricity is very inefficient and impractical. Hydrogen can be transported and distributed in a cheap and easy way. It can also be stored without any drawbacks.“Currently, the main methods of producing hydrogen are by reforming natural gas and dissociating hydrocarbons. A smaller amount is produced by electrolysis” (Kroposki 5). Natural gas and hydrocarbons however, will not last forever and this is where industries will have to use electrolysis to acquire hydrogen.

They do this by sending current through water, which leads to hydrogen forming at the cathode and oxygen forming at the anode. The beauty of this is that electrolysis can be performed wherever there is an energy source. That means that scientists and industries can use renewable energy sources like solar power and wind power to produce hydrogen. They will not be reliable on a certain geographic location and can produce hydrogen locally where they need it. This is also beneficial energy wise since less energy is used for transportation of the gas.

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

The industries using electrolysis release large amounts of effluents as wastes. Authorities regulate a particular amount of waste that should be regulated not more than that. There are very few metal finishing plants from which the rinse waters can be discharged directly to the sewers as the contaminant concentrations are outside the limits set by local authorities. With the majority of instillations, therefore, effluent treatment is necessary.

In effluent treatment the usual practice is to separate the acidic discharges, together with those containing nickel or chromium from alkaline and cyanide discharges which may contain metals such as zinc, cadmium or copper.

ETHICAL ISSUES

The companies and industries should always try to reduce pollution by following few methods like:

o Keeping the plating areas clean and preventing foreign materials from entering the site.

o A part that falls off the rack into a bath should be removed quickly to reduce contamination.

o Firms should avoid using broken or cracked racks

o Proper control of bath operating parameters can result in more consistent work piece quality

o Facilities should perform daily or weekly tests and analysis for proper inspection.

SOCIAL ISSUES

Due to electrolysis or electroplating, people can be affected in many ways. Pollution can cause any disease to any one on a general basis, however due to electroplating there can be occupational asthma. People living around those people can get affected too spreading the disease to others and the society. However the electrochemical or electrolysis field has increased the job opportunities for the people and thus developing the country.

CONCLUSION

Electrolysis has a major use in our day to day life, because it provides several products as well as makes us looks good and satisfied. It provides a fuel, as in hydrogen and gives us extra life, as for the oxygen. It is true that there are disadvantages for electrolysis, like giving us scars, creating pollution or increases the time required for making one product however it has so many good effects too, like providing permanent hair loss to most people as well as give a lustrous look to a dull metal or even provide electricity in emergency or mobile devices. I think without electrolysis our life would be incomplete. Electrolysis plays an important role in modern life. Whether it is production of aluminum, electroplating metals, or producing certain chemical compounds, the process of electrolysis is essential in the daily life of most people. It has been developed thoroughly since its discovery in 1800 and will probably become even more important in the future. The world needs a substitute for fossil fuels and hydrogen seems to be the best candidate. In the future this hydrogen will need to be produced by electrolysis. The process will be improved and will become even more important in daily life than it is now.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Andersen, and Fjellvåg. “Elektrolyse.” Store Norske Leksikon. 18 May 2010.

http://snl.no/elektrolyse

Christensen, Nils. “Elektroplettering.” Store Norske Leksikon. May 26. http://snl.no/elektroplettering
Davis, Raymond E. Modern Chemistry. Austin, Texas: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 2005.
Kofstad, Per K. “Aluminium.” Store Norske Leksikon. May 26.http://snl.no/aluminium
Kroposki, Levene, et al. “Electrolysis: Information and Opportunities for Electric Power Utilities.”
. National Renewable Energy Laboratory. May 26:1- 33.www.nrel.gov/hydrogen/pdfs/40605.pdf

Nice, and Strickland. “How Fuel Cells Work.” How Stuff Works. May 26.http://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-efficiency/alternative-fuels/fuel-cell.htm