What is decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen by means of an electric current by the method of?

To study decomposition reactions.

What is a decomposition reaction?

Decomposition is a type of chemical reaction.  It is defined as the reaction in which a single compound splits into two or more simple substances under suitable conditions. It is just the opposite of the combination reaction.

In a combination reaction, a substance is formed as a result of chemical combination, while in a decomposition reaction, the substance breaks into new substances.

What is decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen by means of an electric current by the method of?

For example:  The digestion of food in our body is accompanied by a number of decomposition reactions. The major constituents of our food such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, etc.,decompose to form a number of simpler substances.  These substances further react, releasing large amounts of energy, which keeps our body working.

The general equation that describes a decomposition reaction is:


    

What is decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen by means of an electric current by the method of?

Types of Decomposition Reactions

Decomposition reactions can be classified into three types:

  • Thermal decomposition reaction
  • Electrolytic decomposition reaction
  • Photo decomposition reaction

Thermal decomposition is a chemical reaction where a single substance breaks into two or more simple substances when heated. The reaction is usually endothermic because heat is required to break the bonds present in the substance.
Examples:

Photo decomposition is a chemical reaction in which a substance is broken down into simple substances by exposure to light (photons).

  • Thermal decomposition reaction (Thermolysis)
    • Decomposition of calcium carbonate:Calcium carbonate (lime stone) decomposes into calcium oxide (quick lime) and carbon dioxide when heated. Quick lime is the major constituent of cement.

      What is decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen by means of an electric current by the method of?

       

    • Decomposition of potassium chlorate:When heated strongly, potassium chlorate decomposes into potassium chloride and oxygen. This reaction is used for the preparation of oxygen.

      What is decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen by means of an electric current by the method of?

      If the decomposition is carried out in the presence of manganese dioxide (MnO2), it takes place at a lower temperature. In this case, MnO2 is used as a catalyst.

    • Decomposition of ferric hydroxide:Ferric hydroxide undergoes decomposition in the presence of heat, giving ferric oxide and water molecules.

      What is decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen by means of an electric current by the method of?

    • Decomposition of hydrated oxalic acid:

      Hydrated oxalic acid (H2C2O4.2H2O) decomposes into oxalic acid and water when heated.

      What is decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen by means of an electric current by the method of?

  • Electrolytic decomposition reaction (Electrolysis)

    Electrolytic decomposition may result when electric current is passed through an aqueous solution of a compound. A good example is the electrolysis of water.

    What is decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen by means of an electric current by the method of?
    What is decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen by means of an electric current by the method of?

    What is decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen by means of an electric current by the method of?

    • Electrolysis of water: Electrolysis of water is the decomposition of water into hydrogen and oxygen due to the passage of electric current through it.
    • Decomposition of sodium chloride:On passing electricity through molten sodium chloride, it decomposes into sodium and chlorine.
  •       Photo decomposition reaction (Photolysis)
    • Decomposition of silver chloride:Place a small quantity of silver chloride (AgCl) taken in a watch glass under sunlight for some time. The crystals slowly acquire a grey colour. On analysis, it is found that the sunlight has caused decomposition of silver chloride into silver and chlorine.

      What is decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen by means of an electric current by the method of?
      What is decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen by means of an electric current by the method of?
         

      Silver bromide also decomposes in the same way.

      What is decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen by means of an electric current by the method of?
          

    • Decomposition of hydrogen peroxide: In the presence of light, hydrogen peroxide decomposes into water and oxygen

         

      What is decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen by means of an electric current by the method of?
       

Why are decomposition reactions mostly endothermic in nature?

Most decomposition reactions require energy either in the form of heat, light or electricity. Absorption of energy causes the breaking of the bonds present in the reacting substance which decomposes to give the product.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Students understand the characteristics of a decomposition reaction & different types of such reactions.
  2. Students identify the compounds that may give a decomposition reaction.
  3. Students acquire skills to perform a decomposition reaction in the lab.
  4. Students will be able to distinguish a decomposition reaction from a given set of chemical reactions.
     

Let’s discuss the decomposition reaction of ferrous sulphate crystals by the action of heat.  


Page 2

Water splitting is the chemical reaction in which water is broken down into oxygen and hydrogen:

What is decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen by means of an electric current by the method of?

Diagram of the chemical equation of the electrolysis of water, a form of water splitting.

2 H2O → 2 H2 + O2

Efficient and economical water splitting would be a technological breakthrough that could underpin a hydrogen economy, based on green hydrogen. A version of water splitting occurs in photosynthesis, but hydrogen is not produced. The reverse of water splitting is the basis of the hydrogen fuel cell.

 

Electrolyser front with electrical panel in foreground

Electrolysis of water is the decomposition of water (H2O) into oxygen (O2) and hydrogen (H2) due to an electric current being passed through the water.[1]

 

Atmospheric electricity utilization for the chemical reaction in which water is separated into oxygen and hydrogen. (Image via: Vion, US patent 28793. June 1860.)

  • Vion, U.S. Patent 28,793, "Improved method of using atmospheric electricity", June 1860.

In power-to-gas production schemes, the excess power or off peak power created by wind generators or solar arrays is used for load balancing of the energy grid by storing and later injecting the hydrogen into the natural gas grid.

 

Electrolysis of water ship Hydrogen Challenger

Production of hydrogen from water is energy intensive. Potential electrical energy supplies include hydropower, wind turbines, or photovoltaic cells. Usually, the electricity consumed is more valuable than the hydrogen produced so this method has not been widely used. In contrast with low-temperature electrolysis, high-temperature electrolysis (HTE) of water converts more of the initial heat energy into chemical energy (hydrogen), potentially doubling efficiency to about 50%.[citation needed] Because some of the energy in HTE is supplied in the form of heat, less of the energy must be converted twice (from heat to electricity, and then to chemical form), and so the process is more efficient.[citation needed]

Currently energy efficiency for electrolytic water splitting is 60% - 70%.[2]

A version of water splitting occurs in photosynthesis, but the electrons are shunted, not to protons, but to the electron transport chain in photosystem II. The electrons are used to convert carbon dioxide into sugars.

When photosystem I gets photo-excited, electron transfer reactions get initiated, which results in reduction of a series of electron acceptors, eventually reducing NADP+ to NADPH and PS I is oxidized. The oxidized photosystem I captures electrons from photosystem II through a series of steps involving agents like plastoquinone, cytochromes and plastocyanine. The photosystem II then brings about water oxidation resulting in evolution of oxygen, the reaction being catalyzed by CaMn4O5 clusters embedded in complex protein environment; the complex is known as oxygen evolving complex (OEC).[3][4]

 

An algae bioreactor for hydrogen production.

In biological hydrogen production, the electrons produced by the photosystem are shunted not to a chemical synthesis apparatus but to hydrogenases, resulting in formation of H2. This biohydrogen is produced in a bioreactor.[5]

Using electricity produced by photovoltaic systems potentially offers the cleanest way to produce hydrogen, other than nuclear, wind, geothermal, and hydroelectric. Again, water is broken down into hydrogen and oxygen by electrolysis, but the electrical energy is obtained by a photoelectrochemical cell (PEC) process. The system is also named artificial photosynthesis.[6][7][8][9]

The conversion of solar energy to hydrogen by means of water splitting process is a way to achieve clean and renewable energy. This process can be more efficient if it is assisted by photocatalysts suspended directly in water rather than a photovoltaic or an electrolytic system, so that the reaction takes place in one step.[10][11]

Nuclear radiation routinely breaks water bonds, in the Mponeng gold mine, South Africa, researchers found in a naturally high radiation zone, a community dominated by a new phylotype of Desulfotomaculum, feeding on primarily radiolytically produced H2.[12] Spent nuclear fuel is also being investigated as a potential source of hydrogen.[citation needed]

An aluminum alloy powder invented by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory in 2017 was shown to be capable of producing hydrogen gas upon contact with water or any liquid containing water due to its unique nanoscale galvanic microstructure. It reportedly generates hydrogen at 100 percent of the theoretical yield without the need for any catalysts, chemicals, or externally supplied power.[13][14]

 

Nano-galvanic aluminum-based powder developed by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory

In thermolysis, water molecules split into their atomic components hydrogen and oxygen. For example, at 2200 °C about three percent of all H2O are dissociated into various combinations of hydrogen and oxygen atoms, mostly H, H2, O, O2, and OH. Other reaction products like H2O2 or HO2 remain minor. At the very high temperature of 3000 °C more than half of the water molecules are decomposed, but at ambient temperatures only one molecule in 100 trillion dissociates by the effect of heat.[15] The high temperatures and material constraints have limited the applications of this approach.

Nuclear-thermal

One side benefit of a nuclear reactor that produces both electricity and hydrogen is that it can shift production between the two. For instance, the plant might produce electricity during the day and hydrogen at night, matching its electrical generation profile to the daily variation in demand. If the hydrogen can be produced economically, this scheme would compete favorably with existing grid energy storage schemes. What is more, there is sufficient hydrogen demand in the United States that all daily peak generation could be handled by such plants.[16]

The hybrid thermoelectric Copper-chlorine cycle is a cogeneration system using the waste heat from nuclear reactors, specifically the CANDU supercritical water reactor.[17]

Solar-thermal

The high temperatures necessary to split water can be achieved through the use of concentrating solar power. Hydrosol-2 is a 100-kilowatt pilot plant at the Plataforma Solar de Almería in Spain which uses sunlight to obtain the required 800 to 1,200 °C to split water. Hydrosol II has been in operation since 2008. The design of this 100-kilowatt pilot plant is based on a modular concept. As a result, it may be possible that this technology could be readily scaled up to megawatt range by multiplying the available reactor units and by connecting the plant to heliostat fields (fields of sun-tracking mirrors) of a suitable size.[18]

Material constraints due to the required high temperatures are reduced by the design of a membrane reactor with simultaneous extraction of hydrogen and oxygen that exploits a defined thermal gradient and the fast diffusion of hydrogen. With concentrated sunlight as heat source and only water in the reaction chamber, the produced gases are very clean with the only possible contaminant being water. A "Solar Water Cracker" with a concentrator of about 100 m² can produce almost one kilogram of hydrogen per sunshine hour.[19]

Research is being conducted over photocatalysis,[20][21] the acceleration of a photoreaction in the presence of a catalyst. Its comprehension has been made possible ever since the discovery of water electrolysis by means of the titanium dioxide. Artificial photosynthesis is a research field that attempts to replicate the natural process of photosynthesis, converting sunlight, water and carbon dioxide into carbohydrates and oxygen. Recently, this has been successful in splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using an artificial compound called Nafion.[22]

High-temperature electrolysis (also HTE or steam electrolysis) is a method currently being investigated for the production of hydrogen from water with oxygen as a by-product. Other research includes thermolysis on defective carbon substrates, thus making hydrogen production possible at temperatures just under 1000 °C.[23]

The iron oxide cycle is a series of thermochemical processes used to produce hydrogen. The iron oxide cycle consists of two chemical reactions whose net reactant is water and whose net products are hydrogen and oxygen. All other chemicals are recycled. The iron oxide process requires an efficient source of heat.

The sulfur-iodine cycle (S-I cycle) is a series of thermochemical processes used to produce hydrogen. The S-I cycle consists of three chemical reactions whose net reactant is water and whose net products are hydrogen and oxygen. All other chemicals are recycled. The S-I process requires an efficient source of heat.

More than 352 thermochemical cycles have been described for water splitting or thermolysis.,[24] These cycles promise to produce hydrogen oxygen from water and heat without using electricity.[25] Since all the input energy for such processes is heat, they can be more efficient than high-temperature electrolysis. This is because the efficiency of electricity production is inherently limited. Thermochemical production of hydrogen using chemical energy from coal or natural gas is generally not considered, because the direct chemical path is more efficient.

For all the thermochemical processes, the summary reaction is that of the decomposition of water:

2 H 2 O ⇌ Heat 2 H 2 + O 2 {\displaystyle {\ce {2H2O <=>[{\ce {Heat}}] 2H2{}+ O2}}}  

All other reagents are recycled. None of the thermochemical hydrogen production processes have been demonstrated at production levels, although several have been demonstrated in laboratories.

There is also research into the viability of nanoparticles and catalysts to lower the temperature at which water splits.[26][27]

Recently Metal-Organic Framework (MOF)-based materials have been shown to be a highly promising candidate for water splitting with cheap, first row transition metals.[28][29]

Research is concentrated on the following cycles:[25]

Thermochemical cycle LHV Efficiency Temperature (°C/F)
Cerium(IV) oxide-cerium(III) oxide cycle (CeO2/Ce2O3) ? % 2,000 °C (3,630 °F)
Hybrid sulfur cycle (HyS) 43% 900 °C (1,650 °F)
Sulfur iodine cycle (S-I cycle) 38% 900 °C (1,650 °F)
Cadmium sulfate cycle 46% 1,000 °C (1,830 °F)
Barium sulfate cycle 39% 1,000 °C (1,830 °F)
Manganese sulfate cycle 35% 1,100 °C (2,010 °F)
Zinc zinc-oxide cycle (Zn/ZnO) 44% 1,900 °C (3,450 °F)
Hybrid cadmium cycle 42% 1,600 °C (2,910 °F)
Cadmium carbonate cycle 43% 1,600 °C (2,910 °F)
Iron oxide cycle ( Fe 3 O 4 / FeO {\displaystyle {\ce {Fe3O4/FeO}}}  ) 42% 2,200 °C (3,990 °F)
Sodium manganese cycle 49% 1,560 °C (2,840 °F)
Nickel manganese ferrite cycle 43% 1,800 °C (3,270 °F)
Zinc manganese ferrite cycle 43% 1,800 °C (3,270 °F)
Copper-chlorine cycle (Cu-Cl) 41% 550 °C (1,022 °F)
  • Water gas shift reaction

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