I replied to this last week, but it seems to have not gotten on the list (apparently it went to [email protected] instead, so here it is again:
alchemySA wrote: > Unless I've misunderstood things, the popular wisdom at the > moment seems to be that there are no real silver particles suspended in > low voltage CS. The theory goes that all these particles are really > just > compounds (e.g. oxides) Where did you come up with that? Tyndall proves there are particles. The color vs particle size proves they are pure silver particles as well. And measurements I and many other have made using spectrophotometers and disgestion chemistry proves it as well. > because the only silver is in the form of ions > that can't reform > into silver particles. And why not, we see that happen all the time. The photographic process not only proves it possible, but proves it to be easy and well understood. > We are also told that low voltage DC doesn't > have the > grunt to simply blast solid silver pieces off the wire. That is true, silver ions move off the wire, and then combine to form particles, that is why stirring and a low current are so important to maintain small particle size. > > > But I was wondering if it's possible that as ions dissolve off the > electrode they occasionally 'undercut' chunks of solid silver that then > break off as tiny solid silver colloids. The same way that say a fallen > log slowly disintegrates in the forest. Some parts of the log virtually > dissolve or are eaten by termites, til eventually a bigger chunk of > timber just falls off. That is possible, but not a likely mechanism. > > > I believe that electricity usually travels on the surface of the wire > (the path of least resistance?) but molten silver that's been rapidly > solidified and formed into wire would probably have plenty of weak > points that allow for undercutting ...maybe even gaps (alternative > 'surfaces') that an electron can travel through. Why would the silver be molten? Silver wire is formed by cold process extrusion, there is no heat involved. > > > How else can particles be present in the water to plate the glass or > float as shiny flakes on the surface? (And are the flakes perhaps lifted > up there by a rare oxygen bubble that was created during, or mabe even > helped create, the aforementioned silver wire disintergration?) > Look up the photographic process, it is all well understood. Also the silver will plate out on the cathode, producing wiskers and flakes. > > Another explanation for these silver particles is that maybe silver ions > really can turn back into silver particles. All they need to do is to > pick up a loose electron from somewhere. How hard can that be? With > electricity running up and down both electrodes, and various chemical > reactions happening, there must occasionally be an electron that loses > it's way in all the excitement. The solution is neutral, the silver ions are positive, the OH and O2 is negative. I have posted the eqauations for this many times to this forum. They can easily do this, once again look up and understand the photographic development process to see how easy and well known this is. > > > Finally, when the experts dry the CS and do photos with TEMs or SEMs or > whatever, can they really sort the wheat from the chaff? Can they > really pick the oxides from the particles (if there are any) or do they > all look the same? They do not look the same, but as you evaporate the water, the composition can change, so it is hard to say for sure what you started with. Marshall > > > David > > -- > The Silver List is a moderated forum for discussing Colloidal Silver. > > Instructions for unsubscribing are posted at: http://silverlist.org > > To post, address your message to: [email protected] > Silver List archive: http://escribe.com/health/thesilverlist/index.html > > Address Off-Topic messages to: [email protected] > OT Archive: http://escribe.com/health/silverofftopiclist/index.html > > List maintainer: Mike Devour <[email protected]>
