Dear list scientists,
Please help me understand my observed differences in brewing colloidal silver vs colloidal copper. My generator uses a constant current of about 300 microamps, polarity switched about every 20 minutes. Because of the long time it takes to brew a batch, stirring is not needed because polarity switching and natural (Brownian) particle movement provide adequate particle disbursement. The electrodes are #12 round wire, 5.5 inches long spaced about 2 inches. I use a quart of steam distilled water. For colloidal silver, the brew time is about 24 hours. At the end of the brew, the voltage across the electrodes is about 2.5 volts. Tyndall effect is normal. To brew colloidal copper, I used copper wire instead of silver, with all else being the same. At the end of 24 hours, the Tyndall was barely noticeable. So I let it brew another 24 hours. At this time, the Tyndall effect was more noticeable, but fainter than for the CS brew, meaning either there were less particles, and/or they were smaller than the silver particles. The voltage across the electrodes was about 7.2 volts, meaning the ionic conductivity was about 3 times lower than the silver brew. My question: Why the substantial difference in brew characteristics vs time? What chemically is different about the two electrolyses? --Steve --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus
