Making Graphite Electrodes

[@onebeets]

showing the original mistake on the video is wholesome. a+ respect

[@basvisscher934]

If you leave the tip with copper, you can solder a wire to the anode.

[@simonmasters3295]

Best comment

[@lightningspyder7804]

Yes but i wont work I try it

[@trejaymusic]

Why not keep a rotating system that consists of: unused rod -> cathode rod -> anode rod -> clean rod. If the CuSO4 is unavoidable on the cathode, it seems like one of the more efficient ways of both clearing the SO4 salt after its use as the cathode and dissolving the copper coating. Either way great video!

[@Tridenux]

Video title should be : removing copper coating from carbon electrodes

[@ScrapScience]

Yep

[@levisusag674]

I used this same method, until I realized that you can just peel the copper off if you make a cut near the middle.

[@asdwee4444]

You not need acid to remove the copper layer. All you need is a sharp cutter. -first step is to make a longitudinal cut and after then you must to exfoliate a bit the copper layer with the cutter blade -second step pulll the exfoliated layer with your fingers -less than 2 min for one electrode

[@paulojesus8573]

🤣🤣🤣 🤷🏾‍♂️🤷🏾‍♂️🤷🏾‍♂️

[@danp1224]

The copper should just peel off by hand. I used many of theses in the past. Metal fabricator.

[@fredscott1702]

The copper should actually just peel off. These are Air Arcing Carbon rods, (think welding in reverse, it melts the steel and blows it away w compressed air)

[@ruthmeza1303]

Do you happen to know what brand or kind of copper coated carbon rods peel off easy? I have seen some that peel off easy and some that are not easy at all.

[@fredscott1702]

@@ruthmeza1303 honestly I'm not sure of the brand names. It's always seemed to me that air carbons (carbon rods used for air arcing) all peeled easily

[@excitedbox5705]

@@fredscott1702 usually they are foil covered which he also mentioned in the beginning, but you can see here that they are painted with copper powder.

[@WeebRemover4500]

it strikes me, that i had an idea for a pressure filtration system, being that much easier to produce by yourself compared to vacuum filtration, with the one problem that you will have to take apart the pressure chamber when adding more to the filter but, seeing a vacuum pump is at least 50 euros, unless you go about making a pressurized water vacuum device- which is also gonna be around 50 euros, i think it would be very useful for many people the airpressure could maybe be supplied by something as silly as an bicycle pump

[@pajaroamarillo3713]

this channel is spectacular, do you think it would be feasible to make the electrodes using only FeCl3? this is usually used to dissolve integrated circuit boards. A simple bath in this lewis acid could be enough? Or maybe the carbon electrode could absorb undesirable particles? At first glance it seems plausible. Best regards!

[@ScrapScience]

That would almost definitely work! Just be sure to wash the electrodes to get rid of the leftover reaction products. The graphite structure is almost like a sponge!

[@ClownWhisper]

Just use hydrochloric acid and add an oxidizer and the copper should come read off I believe hydrogen peroxide would work

[@paulojesus8573]

There's people saying that the copper goes out whit bare hands

[@myth-termoth1621]

I think you wil find that the copper is plated on so plating it off again should work. I would use sodium bicarbonate so you end up with pure basic copper carbonate ( uncontaminated with sulphate ) which you can use for making cupromonium for disolving cellulose. Im woried that you are going to melt the plasterscene and end up with hydroxide everywhere.

[@ScrapScience]

You make some excellent points here, thanks! To be honest, this is probably my least favourite video on my channel. From the terrible setup (plasticine why...?), the somewhat inefficient process, and the fact that I didn't really understand chemistry at the time (I think I was like 16 or 17 when I filmed this one), I don't really like the fact that this has got so many views. It's not really the type of video I'd make today, since there are better ways of doing it (and much better execution). Nowadays I just dissolve the copper away with hydrochloric acid over a few weeks.

[@myth-termoth1621]

I also think that you will have ended up with a mixture of basic copper sulphate, basic copper hydroxide and copper hydroxide, possibly magnesium hydroxide as well.

[@excitedbox5705]

mount the rod in a drill and use sand paper to grind the paint off.

[@spambot7110]

why not keep a short section of the copper plating at one end of each rod, to allow you to solder the wires on for a better electrical connection?

[@ScrapScience]

Great idea! I'll give it a go next time.

[@PotionsMaster666]

6:28 But why ? Also isn't that contradictory, i mean copper hydroxide is quite stable (taking in account very, very low Ksp) compound hence it gets precipitated easily, so basic conditions would be ideal for copper hydroxide formation, but that doesn't happen majorly ???

[@ScrapScience]

Basic conditions are only favourable for copper hydroxide formation if the copper is already in an oxidised state (ie. it's present in solution as Cu(II) ions), in which case the copper hydroxide will just precipitate out. In this case that would require oxidising the copper from the metallic state to Cu(II) ions, which is much more difficult in basic solution because the oxidation of hydroxide ions can act as a side reaction, hindering the reaction speed.

[@hayatel2557]

With what Can I glue graphite for temperature around 2000 celcius please ?

[@geniusdude8975]

Wow. I like your channel 😁

[@ابراهيم-ش9غ5ق]

what about Carbon glass electrode? is it better?

[@ScrapScience]

Glassy carbon? Yes, they're much better as an electrode in most cases. Still not impervious though.

[@nikoskaravitakis9437]

Ι melt the copper off using oxyacetylene flame

[@vancefielding6032]

Ebay has straight high quality dense carbon rods. No metal cladding. Just saying...if you don't want the experiment and just want the rod.

[@fiokgoogle8779]

Can you send me pleas a link?!

[@robertbledsoe986]

I'm thinking it would've worked a lot better/faster if you would've just hooked up the anode wire directly to the copper instead of the graphite do to the electrical properties of the copper vs. the graphite, obviously the copper being a better conductor...? I could be wrong. I'm about to try it myself so, I'll try to get back to you on that.

[@andrewsmith1735]

The way these rods are used confirms your belief. The welding clamp is attached to the copper side sliding to adjust amps to avaliable voltage. Black carbon tip is touched to surface you want melted. Copper conducts with carbon focusing heat in last bit of carbon. Don't let them get wet if using for intended purposes. Water plus heat equals steam.

[@levisusag674]

20 volts is about sufficient for this, I happen to know that the carbon breaks down at and around 30 volts.

[@lazyplumber1616]

Do you think I can put my copper rod in my lathe and lightly sand the copper off the rod or would the rod be to brittle?

[@ScrapScience]

That'll probably work. They are definitely very brittle as you've said, so you'll need to be very careful.

[@bobi_lopataru]

Wait can we use copper sulfate as electrolyte?

[@ScrapScience]

Yep, it's generally more expensive though

[@bobi_lopataru]

@@ScrapScience cool! that means I can just keep using the same electrolyte and make sulfuric acid at the same time as cleaning the rods

[@ScrapScience]

If you're using the process to remove the copper from the rods, the electrolysis won't generate sulfuric acid I'm afraid. Making sulfuric acid requires an inert anode, but in this case, the anode redissolves copper into solution, cancelling out the acid production. You could, however, make sulfuric acid after all of the copper is removed from the anode. Maybe that's what you meant in the first place, I don't know.

[@dmitrygrey]

I think you could just use sandpaper xD

[@troymoore7537]

try adding like 2 0r 3 ml od hydrogen peroxide to the electrolyte next time.

[@szekerespista3758]

It is possible to electroplate Stainless Steel or Copper with a Graphite layer? Could you please explain how. 🙏Thanks!

[@ScrapScience]

I'm afraid not. Graphite is not capable of electroplating onto an electrode since there aren't any ionic carbon salts which would work for the electroplating method.

[@szekerespista3758]

@@ScrapScience thank you for your response!

[@bjl1000]

are you sure they are graphite? Carbon is different than graphite.

[@PowerrPundit]

What are you even saying?...

[@fredscott1702]

The copper will peel off those air carbons

[@ScrapScience]

No, it won't. This type of rod has the copper plated directly onto the surface of the carbon, and it can't be removed mechanically (outside of sanding it off), I've tried.

[@fredscott1702]

@@ScrapScience my sincere apologies. All of the air carbons I've used personally, would always peel easily

[@tchatcho66]

Just use iron perchloride 🙂

[@uklove3014]

I want graphite road please I want purchase web address provide thank you

[@ltsgobrando]

How da fuq am I nt subscribed to you??? I've watched at least half of your videos these past few months, and of those I've used around 80% as a guide... well more of a guide to developing a process 😅 Anywho I've fixed th issue. Subscribed and even rung the bell, which is a big deal. I've spent A LOT of time on the platform.. I just took a look and realized how bad it is, that juicy tidbit I'll elaborate on below. Anywho,. since the bell came out in late 2018 (October is coming to mind but I'm not sure) I have clicked it 4 times, and your the 4rth. Hell I hardly ever subscribe to begin with! Now in alll that time I've "watched" in excess of 10'000 hours of content (no I'm not joking, and that's a very conservative estimate. Also the quotes are cuz I almost never have my eyes on the screen). At least I can say pretty much all of it is stuff like this, and its so i have reference for whatever project I'm working on at the time, at least I get a lot done? Anyways, love your content dude and its among the best around (trust me, I've checked). Keep up he ass-destruction holmes! As mentioned above: Sooooo I just checked the stats and I may have to go to rehab. Renewaled my premium on July 4th of this year. Since then I've watched >1940 hours, >890 hours with my screen locked, >270 hours worth of music, and 818 videos offline. Its currently 5AM, and I've only just got up... but I've still managed to watch 81 hours of content. Average daily use is only 13hrs 40mins. And to be clear I don't actually watch most of that, perhaps 20% I do, the rest is background noise/reference material for current projects. Worst part is those numbers have actually decreased (had weeks as high as 150hrs, yeah that's just short of 24/6... 18 hours to be precise. My best guess as to how many hours I've spent with youtube running in the background throughout my life is for sure >35'000, and in the neighborhood of 20Tb worth of data,.Not sure why I felt so compelled to share all that other than the fact I thought it interesting lolol

[@ScrapScience]

Wow, very kind words mate, thanks! I'll consider it to be an honour to be in your subscription feed. :)

[@mauriciopacheco12]

gracias por compartir Dios te bendiga

[@crystalsheep1434]

Nice

[@Tarisaurus]

ferric chloride

[@lautaromorales2903]

hi! I found a video called "how to make carbon electrode" from marmathic and I want to know if you can cover this in a video. I made some electrodes and they really work! but the ones I made have low conductivity (in the order of 100 omhs). The method I used of obtaining the conductive carbon is the same, but for making the electrode I firstly evaporated all the water slowly in a stove to prevent the electrode to deform of explode from the steam generated, and then I heated it until red hot in a decapped gas stove to have a strong flame (but is strongly oxidizing, so the electrode is partially consummed in the process). after it's red hot and giving it some air to combust it (to make it hotter and promote the graphitization), the electrode is submerged in water to prevent more oxidation and its conductivity is measured. I didn't made many of them because I didn't had the time, but I heated one that had like 160 omhs of resistance with and arc welder, connecting it betwen the electrodes and it heated it too much that incresed its conductivity, leaving it with like 20-30 omhs (I don't remember well), but when I submerged it in water it broke. As shown in the video, these electrodes are very porous, and the only form of connecting a wire in it without making contant with the solution (because of capillar effect I think) is from the pencil lead. sorry for my english xd

[@ScrapScience]

I've definitely considered making graphite electrodes previously. So far, I haven't given it a go because it seems like a lengthy process, and graphite electrodes are extremely cheap anyway. I'll probably give it a go at some point, but I've got quite a few video ideas to work through before I'll tackle it. Thanks for the info too! I'm sure it will come in handy.

[@prospectorpete]

COULD I JUST USE A CAR BATTERY CHARGER ?

[@ScrapScience]

Yes

[@prospectorpete]

@@ScrapScience COULD I USE SALT WATER OR VINIGAR FOR THE LIQUID

[@ScrapScience]

While it would work, I'd still recommend using epsom salt or sodium sulfate, using vinegar will just dissolve the copper to form a copper acetate solution and start electroplating the copper across to the cathode. Using salt water will probably work but will be more likely to electroplate the copper rather than forming solid copper hydroxide, it will also have the downside of generating chlorine gas once the copper is gone.

[@prospectorpete]

@@ScrapScience hey buddy , on a different note . i need sulfuric acid but here in australia its hell expensive and is no longer used in drain cleaner bought from a supermarket , onlu plumbers can buy the good stuff . i want to disolve the ceramic comuter chips . a have lots of car batteries but since the acid is so diluted , im having trouble distilling it with the tools i have at hand , is there a substitute i can use instead of sulfuric

[@ScrapScience]

@prospector_pete I'm no expert on dissolving the ceramic on computer chips, but I would have recommended buying some sodium bisulfate (which is a pretty common sulfuric acid substitute in some cases). However, if battery acid (which is actually 20-30% H2SO4 as it is) doesn't work then I doubt there'd be any proper substitute that would be available here in Aus. The only option i can think of is concentrating your battery acid by boiling it down, assuming you have the proper safety setup for such a task. Maybe you can reach a high enough concentration by doing that, but if not, I'm afraid I can't really help

[@walkerweber9611]

they are for arc gouging

[@cuisara2407]

good

[@renefuchs2955]

Why don't you use just a sandpaper to remove the copper? Ist cheap and quicker than electrolysis ;-)

[@husnainali3123]

What is sandpaper

[@husnainali3123]

What will be the process of it to recover copper by using sandpaper

[@mikahandony1562]

@@husnainali3123 take the rod in one hand, take the sandpaper in the other and start rubbing the rough side of the paper on the copper

[@simonmasters3295]

You will not learn nothing about electrochemistry by taking physical shortcuts. I am a bucket chemist but Faraday, Telsa some biology and physics has taught me that my simplistic "bucket" needs engineering to ensure when I plan on moving electrons in one direction and ions in another then it is all about active surface area,.current density, cost and safety. So by all means use sandpaper 🦞🦞🦞

[@John-gm8ty]

electrolysis! :D yay I was right haha

[@John-gm8ty]

I've been trying to think of ideas for my electrolysis bath cathodes, I have no idea why I didn't think of gouging rods! ugh, so simple! I did how ever, go to a salt chlorination cell manufacturer in Brisbane and they graciously donated some worn out titanium cells. after I emailed them with my project pictures to verify I wasn't just a scrap scab ha. imgur.com/a/ljlbmik my dabbling thus far. ended up going with a ciglighter usb stick instead of the 10w panel. I should probably add those pics too... glad I stumbled upon your video, I have stuff to watch now yay.

[@AS-ug2vq]

ScrapScience, can you convert coal or charcoal powder to graphite powder and bind them together? See this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jovFgn9sh9GtetU