Experiments Concerning Electrochemical Production of solvated Electrons

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Abstract
Solvated electrons are known to be produced by electrolysis of liquid ammonia solutions of alkali salts. It is doubtful however if solvated electrons also are formed as precursor of hydrogene during electrolysis of aqueous solutions.Experiments were undertaken to detect by optical means solvated electrons injected into liquid water or ammonia by cathodic polarisation of a light reflecting silver electrode. The experimental set up allowed us to detect changes of 1 · 10−6 in intensity of the reflected light which would be connected with the concentration of 3 · 10−14 mol hydrated electrons per cm2 electrode surfaces.In aqueous solutions the intensity of the reflected light changes with cathodic polarisation of the electrode. The dependence of this effect on the wave length of the reflected light however rules out the hypothesis that it is due to solvated electrons formed as intermediate during electrolysis. On the other hand in liquid ammonia the effects are larger by several orders of magnitude and show the wave length dependence as expected for ammoniated electrons.

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