electrode metals

[wicked]

i have been thinking what other metals can you use for the electrodes aluminum, zinc, nickel, and others. would these work better. if no one have tried this i am willing

[Painless]

i have been thinking what other metals can you use for the electrodes aluminum, zinc, nickel, and others. would these work better. if no one have tried this i am willing

Aluminum will be eaten up by any base catalyst, such as KOH or NaOH.
As for zinc and nickel, I'm not sure, I know that zinc is a part of stainless steel that gives it it's strength against corrosiveness, so perhaps this is an option?

Just be careful, as harmful gasses can be given off with some metals, for example, KOH / NaOH electrolyte with aluminum gives off (ironically) hydrogen and chlorine (I think, or some other non-respiration friendly gas).

[wicked]

yes zinc and nickel are in stainless but i dont know how there are alone i am in welding class i will ask my teacher tomorrow if he says it should work ill try it and fill you in

[BoyntonStu]

yes zinc and nickel are in stainless but i dont know how there are alone i am in welding class i will ask my teacher tomorrow if he says it should work ill try it and fill you in

Why would your welding instructor know anything about electrolysis?

Thousands of us have gone down these paths, why don't you spend a day reading instead of going off on a tangent?

Here's a story:

A long time ago, a few friends and I were walking around our new neighborhood.

As we passed one house, everyone noticed how beautiful the lawn looked.

Each guy said something like:

I'm going to fertilize.

I'm going to water.

I'm going to aerate. etc.

I said, "I'm going to ask the owner what he does".


Study grasshopper, study.

BoyntonStu

[hydrotinkerer]

I tried some zinc coated bolts and they turned a gray corrosion color. Zinc is used in boating as a sacrificial anodes. So they corrode under galvanic/electrolysis exposure.

Aluminum is consumed when exposed to water with a strong base. I understand that the aluminum is turned to aluminum oxide while releasing hydrogen. It is called a cornish generator. I believe that is how I read it.

[wicked]

my teacher my not know about electrolysis but he knows the corrosive nature
of the metals

[BoyntonStu]

my teacher my not know about electrolysis but he knows the corrosive nature
of the metals

Ask a welder about welding; makes sense.

Ask an experienced Hydroxy builder about electrode materials?

I am interested in what your teacher tells you.

Ask him which stainless makes the best electrode and why would he choose it?

Is it 430, 303, 304, 304L, 316, 316L, or 317L?

Tomorrow I will ask my butcher which fish he recommends.

BoyntonStu

[wicked]

if you think about it the first people that i asked are the most experienced Hydroxy builders that i know and also to be a welder you need to know metallurgy witch also teaches about electrodes and electrodes are something a welder uses every day

[Painless]

if you think about it the first people that i asked are the most experienced Hydroxy builders that i know and also to be a welder you need to know metallurgy witch also teaches about electrodes and electrodes are something a welder uses every day

One addition to consider is the difference between electrodes used in welding, high voltage welding for example and those used in electrolysis.

In electrolysis, the conductance through the electrolyte offers the opportunity for compounds from one of the electrodes to travel through the electrolyte and either react with it or with the other electrode.

[BoyntonStu]

if you think about it the first people that i asked are the most experienced Hydroxy builders that i know and also to be a welder you need to know metallurgy witch also teaches about electrodes and electrodes are something a welder uses every day


A restaurant uses plates.

Some institutions use SS plates.

My hydrogen generator uses SS plates; not electrodes.

Asking your favorite restaurant about hydrogen generator plates is about the same as asking your welder about hydrogen generator non-electrodes.

Your confusion, like so many other newbies has a lot to do with definitions.

BoyntonStu

[Dave Nowlin]

The electrode in a stick welder is consumed as you weld. I also spent a year in welding school. I learned a lot about welding there. I didn't learn anything about hydroxy there. I suspect you won't either. I suspect a good chemistry teacher would be of more use to you when seeking this kind of information.

Dave Nowlin

[vortex_01]

I know this is the internet and we can't expect allot but man what a bunch of negative responses wicked got when he posted that he was going to ask his wielding instructors opinion.

Note to those who tried to respond to his querries, Thanks, you are why I am here.

[ronnny]

Not that i know much about this but i am trying to learn. Between welders and machinist that i know i ask some questions and they let me know if they know or a thought. Like other things ask a few people and make your own decision from all the answers you recieve.

[Steamo]

An absolutely critical thing to remember when choosing a metal to make your electrode plates is whether the metal you are using is a good conductor of electricity. I guess I am not sure about this but I would bet that SS is a better conductor than all of the other metals that have been mentioned in this thread.

I am surprised no one has mentioned silver or gold even in a plating or paint form. Surely these metals would be better than zinc or nickel as mentioned. I do know that silver is the best natural electrical conductor known to man but it doesn't hold up well in the corrosion department (especially in a corrosive solution).

Also, I have been researching SS alloys for some time now and I think a super duplex, ferritic or martensitic SS would work better than the austenitic such as 304 and 316/L. Not to mention that super duplex/ferritic/martensitic SS is less expensive because of its reduced nickel content and therefore is not as tied to the price of nickel.

In short, when your choosing the right kind of metal you need to look at the electrical conductivity/resistivity of the metal. Also, I am not sure how this might play into an efficient cell but some alloys of SS are considered non-magnetic because of their low iron content so looking at the magnetic permeability might be a point of interest (the closer it is to 1.0, being the magnetic permeability of space, the less magnetic it is)

If you want to do some of your own research on the differences check out Stainless steel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stainless_steel) at wikipedia

But also go to here to see Comprehensive Information About the Metallurgy of Stainless Steel by Cambridge University (http://www.msm.cam.ac.uk/phase-trans/2005/Stainless_steels/stainless.html)

[Q-Hack!]

An absolutely critical thing to remember when choosing a metal to make your electrode plates is whether the metal you are using is a good conductor of electricity. I guess I am not sure about this but I would bet that SS is a better conductor than all of the other metals that have been mentioned in this thread.

I am surprised no one has mentioned silver or gold even in a plating or paint form. Surely these metals would be better than zinc or nickel as mentioned. I do know that silver is the best natural electrical conductor known to man but it doesn't hold up well in the corrosion department (especially in a corrosive solution).

Also, I have been researching SS alloys for some time now and I think a super duplex, ferritic or martensitic SS would work better than the austenitic such as 304 and 316/L. Not to mention that super duplex/ferritic/martensitic SS is less expensive because of its reduced nickel content and therefore is not as tied to the price of nickel.

In short, when your choosing the right kind of metal you need to look at the electrical conductivity/resistivity of the metal. Also, I am not sure how this might play into an efficient cell but some alloys of SS are considered non-magnetic because of their low iron content so looking at the magnetic permeability might be a point of interest (the closer it is to 1.0, being the magnetic permeability of space, the less magnetic it is)

If you want to do some of your own research on the differences check out Stainless steel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stainless_steel) at wikipedia

But also go to here to see Comprehensive Information About the Metallurgy of Stainless Steel by Cambridge University (http://www.msm.cam.ac.uk/phase-trans/2005/Stainless_steels/stainless.html)

Stainless steel is actually a rather poor conductor of electricity. This is why we need a 2 volt plate gap instead of the nominal 1.69 volts required with say Copper plates. The main reason for using stainless steel is cost. Stainless holds up well during electrolysis where your softer metals will be eaten away. Platinum is an excellent conductor and would hold up well, but at $100+ a plate, is extremely cost prohibitive.

[Gary Diamond]

what if we use this and glue it to a plastic sheet for support maybe you can solder to it

http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/catalog/ProductDetail.do?N4=267244|ALDRICH&N5=SEARCH_CONCAT_PNO|BRAND_KEY&F=SPEC

[Dr. Jerryrigger]

what if we use this and glue it to a plastic sheet for support maybe you can solder to it

http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/catalog/ProductDetail.do?N4=267244|ALDRICH&N5=SEARCH_CONCAT_PNO|BRAND_KEY&F=SPEC

that would work great, but did you ask for a price quote?
http://www.kitco.com/charts/liveplatinum.html