STUDY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF MASS TRANSPORT PATHS VIA AN ELECTROCHEMICAL FLOW VISUALIZATION TECHNIQUE.

In the reported experiments, mass transport patterns in natural convection generated in non-flow cells at horizontal electrodes have been studied by an electrochemical visualization technique. Sharp color changes in the thymbol-blue indicator during electrolysis, due to local pH-variations occurring in the cathodic boundary layer allow direct tracing of the propagation of flow filaments into the electrolyte bulk. The results provide direct evidence for the enhancing effect of magnetic fields on electrolytic mass transport rates and for the existence of horizontal velocity components of appreciable size at the convective surfaces. Refs.