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

[scrode]

LOL

I'm not sure how to get rid of the left over acid in a dead car battery, but just tipping it over on the ground is not the greatest idea, since eventually those chemicals will filter through to the ground water, and further down the line, into the lakes, streams, and rivers ... where we get our drinking water.

I was just being a smartass.

How about tipping the acid into a container that already contains an equal amount of a strong alkali?

he's right
There is probably a way (alot of baking soda) to neutralize the acid. I'm not a chemist or even close but baking soda neutralizes small amounts.

[Q-Hack!]

The backup power system I worked at in Germany had a room full of batteries. We had a very large barrel of Sodium Bicarbonate there just for emergency clean up. It works very well as a neutralizing agent.

[ElectricSquid]

I was just being a smartass.

All's good. I figured as much.
Just figured I'd add the environmentally friendly message in there for others that may read that and not quite "get it".

[HHOhoper]

As far as electrode material goes, my research has led me to believe that Platinum would be the material of choice. Anyone have a couple thou they wanna give me?

[scrode]

All's good. I figured as much.
Just figured I'd add the environmentally friendly message in there for others that may read that and not quite "get it".

Yeah, I see your point

[Kobudoman]

Hey guys,
I don't think the plating idea would work. One side would gain plating and the other would lose it. ( I forget which is which though). I work in the swimming pool industry and we've been using electrolisis to make chlorine for years. That's how the "salt water" pools work. We put salt in the pool and use a cell (that has ss plates in it) to brake it into chlorine and sodium. The thing is we have a coating on our plates called urridium (I think that's the right term) that protects them from getting eaten up by the chlorine. I'm presently trying to get hold of some used cells to see about possibly recycling the inards. I'll post the results if and when I can get hold of the old cells.

[countryboy18]

there is platinum in your catalytic converter just cut it out and take out the platinum.

[H2OPWR]

The best possible electrode would be a copper plate electroplated with platinum. The problem is the cost. a 6" X 6" copper plate with 1 micron platinum electroplate would cost in excess of $150.00. I am in the process of building a 100 plate cell using 316L stainless. While the stainless has much higher energy loss due to high resistance and high thermo loss I can not justify the difference of $15,000.00 in cost of the plates.

[Q-Hack!]

I have been playing with Silver Nitrate as an electrolyte and discovered that it coats the plates with what I think is silver plating. I need to find some silver polish to test this theory.

[Q-Hack!]

No such luck...

I did the old DIY silver polish trick by boiling a mixture of 1Tbsp. salt and 1Tbsp. baking soda in 1 gallon of water with a piece of aluminum foil at the bottom. Works great on my silver flatware... not so much on my tarnished wall plate.

I am not sure what the tarnish is, but it ain't silver. Whatever it is, its on there pretty good. I have to use an abrasive to get it off. Since it is some form of anodizing, I may just leave it and see how well it works over the long haul.