[AI0101]

Hi
I wanted to produce sodim hydroxide solution with electrolysis of nacl(aq).I connected two pvc vessels together by a pvc tube and I put some cotton in the tube to act as a diaphragam.so my cell is a diaphragam cell.I poured nacl solution in the fist container and pure water in the second.the sodium ions migrate to the second vessel and react with the oh ions and produce naoh.so the sodium hydroxide should stay in the water cell.after a couple of hours electrolysis(200v,1A) I checked the water container and I checked its PH by turmeric.the turmeric became red.so it means that ph of my solution is upper than 8 which means that the solution should be naoh.but I even touched it with my skin and nothing happend.It wasnt that intense.is it really naoh?

[Hunter2]

I think you do crazy experiments. To use a high voltage of 200 V is very dangerous. In practise 5-10 V are efficent enough. The second thing is to touch the chemical with your skin. NaOH can cause dangerous injuries.

Your setup ist also not right you have to add NaCl in both vessels. The NaOH will be developed at the cathode, the NaCl will drop down slowly, If you put only water in the conductivity is not high enough. Which kind of anode did you use. At the anode it will develop poison chlorine gas.


And I hope you use direct current. But  200V !!?, which kind of rectifier did you use.

[AI0101]

Hi.thanks for answering.of course I'm utilizing direct current and I think 200v can make the electrolysis faster.the companies usually utilize 10000v for electrolysis.but u need a minimum of 5v.by the way I think my setup is right(yours is right too)in the cathode h+ of h2o is taken and h+ receives an electron from the cathode and reaches to a stable situation so the h atoms are produced.the hydrogen atoms will produce h2(gas).the sodium ions will be attracted by the cathode and they will migrate along the electric field in the water.the OH ions can also migrate but the stream of water is from the nacl vessel to the water vessel due the level of water.so the OH ions will stay in their vessel.NA will react with OH and the production is NAOH.

yours is correct too.in the cathode container, h+ of OH ions  is taken and OH can react with sodium.but you know yours problem is that at the end the naoh solution wont be pure.I also checked yours.It has the same outcome.
I use graphite in the cathode and anode

[Borek]

I think 200v can make the electrolysis faster

No.

the companies usually utilize 10000v for electrolysis

Never heard about it. Are you sure you are not mistaking high voltage with high currents, easily in the kA range in industrial applications?

[AI0101]

yes I'm pretty sure about it.high voltage can make the electric field much stronger so the ions are attracted faster.but you know this can also make the water hotter.naclo cant be produced in a high temperature so the manufacturers which produce naclo usually use some special equipment to keep the water frigid.but I think high temperature has nothing to do with naoh.I also did the experiment with 24v but it didn't work(I waited for 2 days!!).you know the problem is that the solution isn't that perilous and I'm not sure if that's NAOH or not.I also boiled the solution to get solid naoh.but nothing reminded in the bottom of the kettle.(the melting point of naoh is 384c) I'm just getting crazy I don't know what to do anymore.I've tried all ways.I can go and buy naoh its not that expensive but I want to produce that by myself

[billnotgatez]

yes I'm pretty sure about it.high voltage can make the electric field much stronger so the ions are attracted faster.

You are going to have to cite your information sources or/and maybe post a link.

[AI0101]

I didnt utilize any source to built the cells.its something simple and it doesn't need any source to build.I took help from my high school chemistry books

[billnotgatez]

The building is not in question.
I quoted what you stated that may be in question.
Give me the text book name and what page that it is on where it says

high voltage can make the electric field much stronger so the ions are attracted faster

when referring to electrolysis.

This is a teaching forum.
When we are unsure that a member understands something we ask them specifically where they got there information. Right down to the page number of a textbook. That is why we use the term "cite your reference". This is not to say that you are wrong, but to make sure we are on the same understanding as you.

You might look at the forum rules.
All is explained there.
Click on the link near the top center of the forum page.
Forum Rules: Read This Before Posting.
http://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=65859.0

[AI0101]

ok.unfortunately, the book is in Persian and it doesn't explain how to set up an electrolysis cell.It just goes over the electrolysis and what happens in electrolysis.I also built the cell according to the diaphragam cell.I just did a little research on google.you can google it and you will have a lot of explanation about Diaphragam cell and how it works.
I'm sorry about the rules.I'm a newcomer and I do my best to observe the laws.thanks for responding.

[billnotgatez]

OK
Since you have Googled

I just did a little research on google.you can google it and you will have a lot of explanation about Diaphragam cell and how it works.

Please post where you found the location of

high voltage can make the electric field much stronger so the ions are attracted faster

when referring to electrolysis.

No doubt there are nice pictures and discussion of electrolysis setups. But, you will have to show us where you got your assertions as to voltage use and electrolysis.

[AI0101]

the link:
http://www.chemguide.co.uk/inorganic/group7/diaphragmcell.html

undoubtedly, high voltage and high current can make the electrolysis faster.Its something obvious.You can try it.I also asked my teacher about this and he said the same thing.

[Arkcon]

AI0101:, what you have said doesn't make sense.  We've told you so, and tried to tell you that what our rules require.  We face something of a language barrier, but this is getting tedious.

The internet has always been full of people who just say anything they want, with no support.  This is what you have done.  We don't allow that here.  High school students come here, expecting to learn something new for their coursework.  And they won't learn anything useful from what you've posted.

No matter how many diagrams of NaCl electrolysis cells you show, it won't support your results.  You have no proof that more voltage produces more product.  You have nothing to support that you can make enough NaOH to hurt your skin, or that you can't.  Because you shouldn't try to burn your skin, in any case.  I don't know how much mixing was prevented by a glass wool plug -- if complete, even a thousand volts won't conduct much electricity in pure water.  If no intermixing is prevented, you're simply mixing the chlorine gas with the NaOH solution and making sodium hypochlorite -- a weak solution of household bleach which is likewise slightly alkaline.

We have many home projects here on Citizen Chemist.  But the "gee-wiz" 'lookitwhutikindo' posts all end up tedious, like this one.

I'm going to lock this thread.  And I'll ask you to read other threads here, and see if you can ask good questions, make good proven statements, and maybe see what sort of posting you really wanted to make, and post it again.