Electric field effects on proton transfer between ionizable groups and water in ion exchange membranes

The water splitting effect observed during current flow through ion exchange membranes is studied by examining the effect of including different types of molecules, in the adjacent aqueous phase, on the flows of the hydrogen and hydroxyl ions. The result are consistent with what one would except if the ions were produced in protonation and deprotonation reactions, involving ionizable groups of the molecules and water in the membrane surface, for which the rate constants are at least 6–50 times the free solution values. The rate constants might be increased because of an effect due to the strong electric field ( > 108 V m−1) in the surface.