Random - 22-11-2010 at 15:48
I am making copper aluminium battery, ad I used salt water mixed with vinegar as electrolyte. I set up two cells and didn't have much success. Could I
use very dilute HCl for electrolyte and to destroy aluminium oxide layer and will that improve the cell so I could light a small led? Does anyone know
some other batteries that can be made using chemistry, maybe there can be iron hcl battery?
IrC - 22-11-2010 at 17:26
I doubt you will have a lot of luck getting past the Sapphire barrier. Very hard at best so why try? Use something other than Al, Zn historically
being used. Likely a list of metals would work so why fight the element with such a large problem of self - insulation?
Start by looking at various chemistry success stories.
http://www.powerstream.com/Compare.htm
http://www.powerstream.com/BatteryFAQ.html
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/battery.htm
http://www.science.uwaterloo.ca/~cchieh/cact/c123/battery.ht...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battery_(electricity)
Or in general:
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&expIds=17259,17291,23756,24...
bquirky - 22-11-2010 at 21:23
Try using a Sodium Hydroxide (Caustic soda) electrolyte it will quickly remove the oxide and start attacking the Al with glee producing a current in
your cell.
all so Try heating up your copper electrode over a gas flame to form a nice dark oxide layer this will help prevent gass buildup on the copper
electrode and allow more current to flow.
The problem with this configuration is that the Al gets destroyed even if you don't draw any current. so you cant really use that design for any
medium to long term application. which is why you dont see this kind of cell used comercaly
IrC - 13-1-2011 at 04:40
This may help.
Attachment: homemade batteries.pdf (765kB)
This file has been downloaded 1288 times