PDA

View Full Version : Newbie Electrodes Questions



Saefroch
01-02-2011, 06:32 PM
I'm just starting to get into electrolysis, so if I seem a complete dunce, try to bear with me.

If one must remove the chromium from the surface of a stainless steel plate to use it as an electrode, why use stainless steel at all? After all, with the chromium out of the surface, it's no longer stainless...

What is the advantage to nickel? All that I've read is that it will readily plate back onto electrodes, so it seems to me that it would only be useful in some sort of AC setup, since it has a reduction potential of -.25V.

What is the disadvantage to graphite? I'm aware that it will darken solutions and seem to corrode (indicating that it is reacting in some way), but has anyone ever tried using graphite at low potential, like 1.4V?