# Electrolysis Electrolysis drives a [[Redox]] reaction backwards by supplying [[Electric_current|current]]. Applied to [[Water]], it splits the molecule into [[Hydrogen]] at the cathode and [[Oxygen]] at the anode in exactly the two-to-one ratio of [[Oxyhydrogen]] — the reaction canon running in reverse. ## Storage, not generation The point is not to make [[Energy]] but to move it in time. Electricity that would otherwise be curtailed becomes hydrogen that can be stored and later returned through a [[Fuel_cell]] or burned — the round trip the [[WT!Energy_Center_of_Excellence|energy]] bridge of this spine is built on. Every step costs: the cell needs more than the thermodynamic minimum [[Voltage]] because of overpotentials and resistance, so round-trip [[Energy_transformation|efficiency]] is the number that decides whether the scheme is worth building. [[Electrochemistry]] supplies the accounting, and industrial practice is a [[Chemical_engineering]] problem of electrode area, purity, and heat. **Reads with:** *Electrolysers, Fuel Cells and Batteries: Analytical Modelling (2024)* — [OTL record](https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/electrolysers-fuel-cells-and-batteries-analytical-modelling) · [download](https://books.open.tudelft.nl/home/catalog/book/176). Seeded from the Thury Hydrodynamics Apex Spine book shelf. **On the spine:** [[Oxyhydrogen]] · [[Fuel_cell]] · [[Electrochemistry]] · [[Redox]] · [[WT!Thury_Hydrodynamics_Compendium]]. ## Wikipedia : Wikitube **Strict pair:** [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrolysis) : [Wikitube](https://en.wikitube.io/wiki/Electrolysis) ## Previous hub tags Hubs: `Life_Physics`, `Systems`. Portals: [[PORTAL_Thury_Hydrodynamics_Apex_Spine]], [[PORTAL_Hydrogen]], [[PORTAL_Oxygen]], [[PORTAL_Energy]]. --- *Apex Spine wave · 2026-09-10 · stub · microsim layer deferred.*