Purpose: Seeking to ascertain the energetic differences between Hydrogen, Carbon and Oxygen and the state of liquid water — specifically, the ionization levels of the outer valence electrons. That is, what synergetic light wavelength stimulus could it take to move these elements, that also comprise the basic polymeric makeup of plastics, into a new but familiar configuration of water, H2O. This informs the light array to be included within a photocatalytic circular waste receptacle aka “the trash can of the future.” By the way, that’s not any kind of excuse to keep making plastics that don’t readily and safely biodegrade. The primary motivations for such a device are planetary cleanup and improved public health.
A previous post listed the ionizations levels of Hydrogen, Carbon and Oxygen with the conversion from electron volts to nanometers, which corresponds to light frequency. Then, in order to bright the light energy into a safe range for everyday use, I used a harmonic or exponential series of multiplying that ‘fundamental’ wavelength in nanometers. This part is theoretical, and partly musically informed.
When multiplying those fundamentals, the 4th and 5th harmonics bring the light into the ultraviolet range, which has some known effectiveness for photodegradation of plastic.
However, this process seeks to surpass photodegradation, giving specific instructions for the desired result or byproduct. If this sounds a bit fantastical, take a closer at the reproductive processes of life, which are indeed that. Recently, I posted an article about the marvels of nucleosynthesis, or production of the elements in stars. The atoms circulate and multiply on an energetic wheel of sorts in order to produce all the elements or building blocks of the material cosmos. So, all of these design of experiment posts amounts to collecting information in an attempt to acquire a deeper understanding of natural chemistry, in order to solve a human-made quandary created by lab chemistry.
Regarding water, a highly desirable byproduct that could be created from plastics and other waste, let’s consider the known Ionization Potential as well as the Electron Affinity.
IP = ~10 eV = ~124 nm (ultraviolet)
Electron Affinifty = ~0.8 eV = ~1550 nm (near-infrared)
These are among the known figures for this data. These are not final answers, but in the ballpark. For now, to proceed conceptually with the design of experiment, the Harmonic Series of these Fundamentals should be compared with those already established, of Carbon, Hydrogen, and Oxygen.
The Harmonic Series for Liquid Water’s (Known) Ionization Potential:
The harmonic series of a fundamental wavelength (in this case, 124 nm) can be calculated by multiplying the fundamental wavelength by integers (1, 2, 3, …). Here are the first 14 multiples of 124 nm, which correspond to the harmonic series:
- 124 nm (fundamental)
- 248 nm
- 372 nm (ultraviolet)
- 496 nm (cyan / blue-green)
- 620 nm (orange)
- 744 nm (red)
- 868 nm
- 992 nm
- 1116 nm
- 1240 nm (approaches the edge of the near-infrared region)
- 1364 nm (near-infrared)
- 1488 nm (near-infrared)
- 1612 nm (near-infrared)
- 1736 nm (near-infrared)
Harmonic Series Of Water’s Electron Affinity:
Electron affinity represents the energy change when an electron is added to an atom or molecule. Since energy is released when an electron is gained, the values are typically negative.
1550 nm (fundamental)
775 nm (2x)
517 nm (3x)
387 nm (4x)
310 nm (5x)
… and so on
Water is of course made of Hydrogen and Oxygen, so the outer valence amounts already established could work here as well. And those are again:
Hydrogen (H) = 13.598 eV = 91.178 nm
Oxygen (O): 13.618 eV = 91.044 nm
These are clearly in the same general bandwidth, so *perhaps it’s okay to be less precise and in the neighborhood of the average wavelength.
The answer of moving one substance to another could reside in the differential voltages or wavelengths, which could nudge or inform atoms into different positions, appealing to them with the language of light. Or, quite simply, the ionization values as listed, and their multiples, could yield results.
Knowing of the elegance and genius of nature, the simpler versions of the answers may prove to be more effective and efficient!
Chemically, the fundamental is Hydrogen — it is the 1/1 configuration. It has 1 proton and 1 electron orbiting it. As such and the most abundant element, H is more versatile. Stellar Nucleosynthesis teaches that we make anything out of Hydrogen, and then built up to Helium, and so forth. (What’s next, 3D printing Hydrogen??)
Oxygen is the 8/8/8 and Carbon is the 6/6/6, and we contain these precious building blocks. They represent indeed numero-logical repetitions, and other numeric curiosities such as the previously mentioned periodicity, in physical chemistry, and other levels of life. And the ‘magic’ of numbers could certainly be used here to light the way to the desired results. Up next is comparing the values in a chart or graph.
Endnote / upcoming consideration: In addition to the physical design build, testing in a lab could feature a hybrid instrument to fine tune light and observe — the “microspectrophotometer,” which combines spectroscopy and microscopy, especially for ultraviolet and near-infrared. (4)
- Gaiduk, A.P., Pham, T.A., Govoni, M. et al. Electron affinity of liquid water. Nat Commun 9, 247 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-02673-z https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-02673-z#:~:text=The%20measurement%20of%20Delahay%20et%20al.%2012%20yielded,overall%20agreement%20that%20the%20water%20IP%20is%20~10%E2%80%89eV.
- Photon Unit Calculator | KM Labs | https://www.kmlabs.com/en/wavelength-to-photon-energy-calculator
3. https://www2.chemistry.msu.edu/faculty/reusch/virttxtjml/cnvcalc.htm
4. “Combining Spectroscopy with Microscopy”| Louise Saul MSc 2019| Azo Optics | https://www.azooptics.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=1376#:~:text=The%20UV%2Fvis%20micro%20spectrometer,and%20reflectance%20of%20a%20sample.