Everybody, Following is a response from a ceramist friend of mine on the issue of mixing the CS into the clay composition prior to forming the purifiers, then firing. I am reminded that there's a lot going on in the process of firing that's not always easy to predict.
(Another example of this is a problem that bedevilled me while I was after the achievement of predictable, good flow. While fabricating purifiers all the same way I ended up with a big range in flow rate, anywhere from 0.25 to 1.5 liters per hour, given the filter I was using. What I learned at the time was that these results were to be expected, since there is a very complex chemistry during the sintering process. So I had to solve the problem by using permeable grog, which all gets mixed up, then there is an averaging of flow rate, a smaller range.) In any event, what my friend says as follows points up the need for lots of additional experimentation. So for the time being I am back to the business of simply doing what we know works. Thanks to all who have shown interest. Reid, Bill Walker said: Reid, Silver metal melts at 962 degrees C, and boils at 2212 degrees C. Silver oxide decomposes in air at 230 degrees C, into silver metal and oxygen gas. The silver would not burn out. But what would actually happen to it during the firing is the question. The problems that I see with mixing the colloidal silver into the clay body are: 1) the silver may diffuse into the clay body during firing -- think of it as if it just gets melted in with everything else and no longer exists as colloidal silver; 2) if the silver remains as colloidal silver, it may not be at the surface of the pores -- much of it may end up encapsulated by the rest of the clay body. On the other hand, there might be a driving force for the silver to preferentially migrate to the pore surfaces. Bill -- The silver-list is a moderated forum for discussion of colloidal silver. To join or quit silver-list or silver-digest send an e-mail message to: [email protected] -or- [email protected] with the word subscribe or unsubscribe in the SUBJECT line. To post, address your message to: [email protected] Silver-list archive: http://escribe.com/health/thesilverlist/index.html List maintainer: Mike Devour <[email protected]>
