Okay as expected I corroded the leads again. This time the cathode(negative) turned black from absorbing the aluminum oxide and the anode aluminum became corded by the copper sulfide. Aluminum is positively charged and copper negatively charged. This is why the byproduct compounds bonded to the opposing electrodes. Its also why when I used aluminum for the anode I transferred a lot more current and produced far more gas. The charges pretty well tell you what will go where if you look up the elements and find out if they are negative, positive of neutral. Copper and aluminum are no brainers for me as they are common conductors used in electronics. This time I will go distilled water, sodium bicarbonate and both electrodes aluminum. The goal is to figure out a formula that produces as few byproducts as possible and will last a long time before needing to be cleaned rather than replaced anew. I may see less current since both electrodes are now aluminum which has few free electrons compared to copper or silver but my hypothesis is that the oxide build up will take an incredible amount of time and be easily wire brushed off. This is actually a good way to electroplate metal with gold, silver, chromium, brass etc.
Posted on: Fri, 29 Nov 2013 03:39:12 +0000
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