Better electrode material? - Gold, silver, titanium, etc... plated, not solid

[ElectricSquid]

I'm looking toward better electrode materials. Gold is the firat one that comes to mind. Used in most high grade computer connections for it's superior conductivity.

Yeas, i know solid gold electrodes would cost an arm and a leg, but DUH, we're using electrolosis, the same thing you use to gold plate jewelry. It would be easy for us to gold plate our electrodes.

So how well do you think it would hold up to say... white vinegar and 12amps?

Since we're on the topic, what about the same with silver?
The plating material could be obtained from pure silver CPU heat paste ($16 a tube).

...and what about other materials like titanium (though I'm not sure on how to plate that substance)

[1973dodger]

From what research I have done, you can go to www.enviromentalchemistry.com to find the conductivity rating for the periodic table of elements. Silver is the most conductive of all the elements, then copper, then gold, then aluminum, and so on. Though a few in this forum may disagree with me, I have found you can use just about any conductive element, except aluminum, for your cathode electrode, because of a phenomenon of "cathodic protection", which repels the effects of oxydization. Research this for yourself to see which works out the best for you. Nickle plating would probably give you the best of both worlds, protection from oxydizing and fairly decent conductivity, or you could just play with gold or silver plating to see what works best.

1973dodger

[JojoJaro]

If you read the pdf on the Chemistry and Manufacture of Hydrogen (in one of the threads here.), you will find that electrode material conductivity has very little to do with the amount of production.

Production comes from a 2 step chemical process that depends on the electrolyte concentration.

There are 2 kinds of resistance in the cell. The Physical resistance due to the conductivity of the electrodes and the spacing of the plate. Then there is the EMF resistance from the electrolyte. The Physical resistance is very very negligible compared to the EMF resistance. Replacing your electrodes with one of lesser resistance will have a very very very very miniscule effect on the total resistance.

The only purpose for using exotic maetals is for corrosion protection. Stainless steel serves that purpose admirably and economically. There is no reason to use other exotic metals.

[1973dodger]

If you read the pdf on the Chemistry and Manufacture of Hydrogen (in one of the threads here.), you will find that electrode material conductivity has very little to do with the amount of production.

Production comes from a 2 step chemical process that depends on the electrolyte concentration.

There are 2 kinds of resistance in the cell. The Physical resistance due to the conductivity of the electrodes and the spacing of the plate. Then there is the EMF resistance from the electrolyte. The Physical resistance is very very negligible compared to the EMF resistance. Replacing your electrodes with one of lesser resistance will have a very very very very miniscule effect on the total resistance.

The only purpose for using exotic maetals is for corrosion protection. Stainless steel serves that purpose admirably and economically. There is no reason to use other exotic metals.

Jojojaro,

I see you have moved up in the world, congradulations on the mentor status. My therory concerning the electrodes are; the less resistance, the less heat , as well as the less volts required to push the current. What are your thoughts?

1973dodger

[JojoJaro]

Jojojaro,

I see you have moved up in the world, congradulations on the mentor status. My therory concerning the electrodes are; the less resistance, the less heat , as well as the less volts required to push the current. What are your thoughts?

1973dodger

Mentor status means nothing. They automatically promote you after you've posted 100 times. Even if it is 100 questions, you're still a mentor, go figure.

According to the PDF paper, the electrical resistance due to the physical resistance of the components (electrodes, wires, plates, plate spacing) is extremely minimal compared to the EMF Resistance provided by the Electrolyte for electrolysis. The heat comes from the EMF resistance. The Physical resistance is very small.

Sure, in theory, you will get less physical resistance with exotic metals,
but it is so insignificant a difference that it won't matter. The conductivity of stainless steel is relatively low already. Using exotic metals just won't get the resistance down that significantly. It's not worth it.

[sp1r0]

Mentor stat still looks pretty cool... The only thing I can comment on here is that when using two different metals (I am using copper and SS316), if you hook the metal you don't want to oxidize (copper in my case) to the negative all will be good. The oxygen (-OH) is attracted to the positive and the (+H) is attracted to the negative. No oxygen, no oxidation.

[EdCaffreyMS]

I had also consider Titanium for plates, and was wondering about it. I keep a lot of 6AL4V titanium in the shop (60% aluminum and 40% Vanadium). Most etchants such as acids and chlorides will not harm Titainium, but due to it's high cost, and the unknowns of introducing it into a potassium Hydroxide environment has kept me from trying.
From my experiences with plated materials, I suspect they would not work very well. Gold plating processes only use about 5VDC/300ma, and if plated materials are introduced into a bath environment with voltages higher than that, the plating is quickly eaten away, leaving you with the base material.

I'm certainly no expert on these issues when dealing with HHO, and can only speak from my experiences with the materials I mentioned. There could easily be something I'm missing or don't know.

[Boltazar]

Has anyone mentioned Graphite and its capabilities yet or is this a bad idea.

[1973dodger]

While SS has many good qualities, it has many poor qualities concerning electricity. There should be ongoing experimentation with other types of electrodes. Titanium is considered very good as well as carbon. I see no harm in bench testing any of these elements mentioned.

1973dodger

[Painless]

Has anyone mentioned Graphite and its capabilities yet or is this a bad idea.

I have been giving some serious thought to graphite too, it is used in fuel cells and as an electrode in steel melters.