> To Group, I need to find two metals to make a Raney-Type porous metal sponge. Usually this is done with Ni & Al, but they have very high melting points as do all members of the Ni-Pd group.
Why not start with nano-powder - compress it mildly and heat to the level of diffusion bonding, and thereby forget about leaching? When Raney nickel was invented, nanoparticles were unknown as a starting point. Thus the need to leach. There are number of sources for nanoparticles, or you can buy the "black" (micron range) and grind it down by hand. http://www.americanelements.co.uk/pdnp.html I am told by a current practitioner (of Arata/Kitamura type experiments), that mortar-and-pestle hand grinding gives better results in the low nano size range (near 2 nm) - and at far less cost (use a fume hood as anything "nano" can be toxic, like asbestos). Jones
