Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Electrodes

liquidlightning - 21-7-2012 at 23:37

Will gold hold up as an electrode as well as platinum?

hissingnoise - 22-7-2012 at 01:34

The short answer is no! Gold is attacked when used as anode in a chloride electrolyte ─ its chloride appears as a progressively-forming greenish coloured surface coating.


Swede - 24-7-2012 at 07:48

There are really only four practical anode materials for (per)chlorates, if that is what you are after.

- graphite
- MMO/DSA
- Lead dioxide
- Platinum

With the latter two making perchlorates as well. There are other materials being investigated. Boron-doped diamond electroplated on a suitable substrate shows great promise but it remains a bit exotic for now.

Just about every other likely material has been tried, and they all fail, either not producing chlorate, crumbling to dust, or both.

Swede - 24-7-2012 at 08:07

Speaking of boron-doped diamond, has anyone found a source? The one I did find was scary expensive, at $400+ for a "BDD electrode in Teflon 3mm diameter".

Ouch...