Q.How is heavy hydrogen prepared in the laboratory?
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Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →Deuterium is obtained in the laboratory mainly by the prolonged electrolysis of ordinary water.
When ordinary water (a mixture of mostly H2O with a very small natural fraction of D2O and HDO) is electrolysed, the O-H (and H-H) bonds break more readily than the corresponding O-D (and D-D) bonds, because of the kinetic isotope effect (lighter isotopes react/break bonds faster). As a result, ordinary hydrogen gas (H2) is liberated at the cathode preferentially and more rapidly than deuterium.
By carrying out electrolysis of a large volume of water continuously and for a long time, evolving off most of the H2 while retaining the liquid, the remaining (residual) water becomes progressively enriched in deuterium, eventually yielding nearly pure heavy water (D2O) after successive stages of electrolysis (starting from a large volume of ordinary water and reducing it down to a small residual volume).
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