would aluminum screen work for electrolysis of water and baking soda as the electrolyte? i'm upgrading my hydrogen generator to make a metric crapton of hydrogen for use as a blowtorch. i can't find my spot welder, and that motorcycle ain't going to build itself. and, yes, i already know all the safety stuff, i'm not new to this, i just can't find any info on using aluminum. would it explode? I've used (and made) thermite, so would this do the same thing? would the aluminum oxidize rapidly, more so than stainless steel?
You will rapidly form aluminium oxide, which will coat the positive electrode. After a while, this will diminish the current, so the efficiency of the electrolysis will be greatly reduced. The electrolysis itself is fairly safe (it is how anodised aluminium is made). But you'd be better off with a less reactive metal as your electrode, or one which does not form a protective oxide layer (or at least, not as easily).
