Experiments on heavy hydrogen. III. -The electrolytic separation of the hydrogen isotopes

The object of the present paper is to all call attention to a fact which may play an important role hitherto not considered in the electrolytic separation of the hydrogen isotopes. As is well known the most common mode of preparation of heavy hydrogen is the electrolytic method based on the original discovery of Washburn and Urey. If water containing a certain amount of heavy water be electrolysed under suitable conditions, the light water is more readily decomposed than the heavy water and the heavy hydrogen remains preferentially in the residual water. The separation of the heavy hydrogen proceeds formally according to the formula H0/H . (D/D0)s = (V0/V)s - 1, where H0 and D0, H and D denote the initial and final concentrations of light and heavy hydrogen respectively in the water,and V0 and V are the initial and final volumes of the electrolysed water. s is the so-called "separation factor" or separation coefficient" indicating how many times more readily the light water is decomposed than the heavy one.