Shunt Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 I have some niobium wire that is about 12 gauge, or approx. .080" in diameter. I have searched the forum for uses as an electrode and have found that it is mainly mentioned a base metal for Pt plated electrodes. I do not want to use it for that purpose, as I would just rather buy Pt electrodes and be done with it, but we all know how much that costs. I wonder if it might be of some use in a electrolysis cell unplated for KClO3 production, or maybe other chems. I also have a roll of stainless steel wire that is 14 gauge. I thought i might wind a spiral electrode of each and come up with something useful. I have read surface areas need to be about the same for anode and cathode, and have done the math for the length of both to have the same surface area. I also have a constant voltage/current lab power supply, that will provide 0-12 VDC, but the current maxes out at about 4 amps, which I know is low, but I have the materials and ability to go much higher. I also have a lot of KCl to use as feedstock. Just letting you know what I have to work with, but my main question is... of what use in production of what chem would a niobium anode be good for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 The issue with wire electrodes is length/resistance and volts drop. If you get surface area by increasing the length then the current used at the end away from the feed point has passed through the resistance of a wire and the volts has gone down. This causes the wire near the current feed point to erode rapidly then the wire erodes through and sits on the bottom doing nothing, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrB Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Would weaving it to make a "mesh" help counter the wire's built in resistant issues? I'm not sure it would be very easy to do, you need to get the spacing right, and then the contact between the wire's would be poor, at best, if you don't "waste" a bit of wire tying all the cross over points.B! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shunt Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 The issue with wire electrodes is length/resistance and volts drop. If you get surface area by increasing the length then the current used at the end away from the feed point has passed through the resistance of a wire and the volts has gone down. This causes the wire near the current feed point to erode rapidly then the wire erodes through and sits on the bottom doing nothing,Thanks Arthur, I should have considered that. I suppose that is why commercial units are mesh with multiple paths for current to flow, and a heavy gauge conductor at the feed point. Would weaving it to make a "mesh" help counter the wire's built in resistant issues? I'm not sure it would be very easy to do, you need to get the spacing right, and then the contact between the wire's would be poor, at best, if you don't "waste" a bit of wire tying all the cross over points.B!Thanks for the reply MrB. Might work if contact points were induction welded, along with a buss bar at the top, and a much larger feed point attached at the top as Arthur noted. But that is beyond my skill set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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