Nuclear fusion with strong electric fields : is it possible ?

[Edgard Neuman]

hi,

this may be a dumb question, but I'm wondering (read carefully every details) :
Can we use a very strong electric field to separate electrons from nucleus of some hydrogen or helium gas (a macroscopic quantity, not just some particles, it's not a particle accelerator),
then accelerate the nucleus' at high speeds using electric fields, then making them collide in large quantities... (and maybe uses the electrons at the other side to go back with nucleus at the end)
and then use the fusion energy obtained to power the whole machine ? 

thanks

Edited October 11, 2022 by Edgard Neuman

[swansont]

3 hours ago, Edgard Neuman said:

hi,

this may be a dumb question, but I'm wondering (read carefully every details) :
Can we use a very strong electric field to separate electrons from nucleus of some hydrogen or helium gas

Yes. It’s called field ionization.

3 hours ago, Edgard Neuman said:

(a macroscopic quantity, not just some particles, it's not a particle accelerator),
then accelerate the nucleus' at high speeds using electric fields, then making them collide in large quantities... (and maybe uses the electrons at the other side to go back with nucleus at the end)
and then use the fusion energy obtained to power the whole machine ? 

thanks

Both nuclei are positively charged. Accelerating them independently is what happens in accelerators, and it’s not easy to do, nor do you get a large number of them to collide.

Earnshaw’s theorem tells us you can’t confine the charges with static electric fields