It is commonly accepted that the silver that goes into aqueous suspension/solution we call EIS comes from the anode, i.e. the positively charged electrode. To test this, I replaced the silver anode with a strip of titanium and kept a silver Maple Leaf as the cathode (the negatively charged electrode) and electrolyzed at a current of around 100 microamperes for about two and a half days. The electrodes were spaced about 3 inches apart.
The result was a definite cleaning action on the lower half of the coin cathode (submerged) in comparison to the upper half of the coin (unsubmerged.) The cleaning action was most noticeable on the milled edging. A tyndall effect also became noticeable, in comparison to the distilled water not used in the electrolysis. I don't think it was due to titanium coming off the anode, since titanium metal is very difficult to corrode even by electrolysis. This doesn't make much sense if we assume that silver must necessarily come off as positively charged particles. It might make sense if we allow for silver to come off as solid-state nanocrystals. After all, metallic silver conductors can take a negative charge as well as a positive charge. Has anybody noticed anything like this using other non-silver inert metals like gold, platinum or stainless steel being used as the anode? Thanks in advance for your input. Best regards, Matthew
