If I were you, I first would try making chlorates, with an MMO anode, purchased online. Such an anode can be had for a few tens of dollars and making
it yourself is not worth the effort. Doing this gives you experience in making an electrolysis cell, selecting and using a suitable power supply and
working with the right voltage (using a current source is even better, a poor-man's current source, good enough for electrolysis, can be made, using a
cheap ceramic resistor).
Once you can make chlorate (a concentrated solution of the sodium salt), you can advance to perchlorate. The latter is harder to make and requires a
PbO2-anode (platinized anodes can also be used, but these are quite expensive). Again, I would not try to make a PbO2-anode yourself. It definitely
can be done, but it requires you to work with large amounts of rather toxic chemicals (e.g. lead nitrate) and requires you to manage a lot of toxic
waste. For a really experienced home chemist, who makes multiple PbO2-anodes, this is a viable route, but if you just want one or two of such anodes,
you'd better buy one from eBay.
The reason I write this post is that you first need to teach yourself how to walk, before you are ready for teaching yourself how to run  |
