The electrolysis of water has been studied using polished platinum as electrodes in a divided electrolytic cell. The cell is divided into two compartments using a chemically treated disc separator. The separator allows only the current to pass through and does not permit the ions to move from one compartment to the other. This permits one to apply chemical bias. With this set-up it has been demonstrated that water can be split into hydrogen and oxygen at as low a potential as ∼1.0 volt. Based on these studies a patent has been applied. © 2004 International Association for Hydrogen Energy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.