The Electrical Conductivity of Glasses at High Temperature

JSGT 1927 V11 T331-T347

When mercury was used, a badly-conducting layer, the thickness of which depended on the applied electromotive force, was formed at the anode, whilst metallic sodium was produced at the cathode. When sodium amalgam, instead of mercury, was used as the anode the badly conducting layer was not formed. The sodium removed from the glass by electrolysis was replaced by sodium from the anode and the glass remained unaltered. It was also shown that the passage of the sodium followed the ordinary laws of electrolysis, but that only the positive alkali metal ions took part in the conduction.

F. F. S. Bryson