Abstract
IN NATURE of December 16, 1933, J. Horiuti and M. Polanyi state that they have found that the replacement of heavy hydrogen in water under the catalytic influence of platinum black is faster in pure water than in either acid or alkaline solutions, and suggest that these observations “seem to settle the question” of the nature of the inertia which is responsible for the hydrogen over-voltage at platinum electrodes. There are, however, a number of other possibilities besides the two mentioned by Horiuti and Polanyi. I need only mention one, namely, that the effect of the acids and bases may be merely to cause a partial coagulation of the particles of the platinum, thus reducing the area available for the catalysis. Until such possibilities have been excluded, no definite conclusions as to the mechanism of the process can legitimately be drawn and it certainly appears to be extravagant to suggest that the experiments settle the question of the hydrogen over-voltage.
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BUTLER, J. Catalytic Hydrogen Replacement and the Nature of Over-voltage. Nature 133, 26 (1934). https://doi.org/10.1038/133026a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/133026a0
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