I think I'll try both ways (AC and DC) to compare. I've been thinking about other materials too (such as tungsten/nickel wool or foam).
See here: http://www.americanelements.com/tungsten-nickel-wool.html Here is some interesting info from the site on metal foam. *A metallic foam or ceramic foam* is a cellular structure consisting of a > solid metal <http://www.americanelements.com/AEmetals.html> or > ceramic<http://www.americanelements.com/Chloride_nitrate_etc_page.html> > material > containing a large volume fraction of gas-filled pores. The pores can be > sealed, closed-cell foam, or they can form an interconnected network, > open-cell foam. The defining characteristic of these > foams<http://www.americanelements.com/AEfoams.html> is > a very high porosity, typically 75-95% of the volume consisting of void > spaces. The strength of foamed material possesses a power law relationship > to its density, for example a 20% dense material is more than twice as > strong as a 10% dense material. Metallic foams typically retain some > physical properties of their base material. Foam made from non-flammable > metal <http://www.americanelements.com/AEmetals.html> will remain > non-flammable and the foam is generally recyclable back to its base > material. Coefficient of thermal expansion will also remain similar while > thermal conductivity is likely to be reduced. > *Open-Cell Metal Foams.* Open celled > metal<http://www.americanelements.com/AEmetals.html> foams > are usually replicas using open-celled polyurethane foams as a skeleton. > These foams have found a wide variety of applications in heat exchangers, > energy absorption, flow diffusion and lightweight optics. Extremely > fine-scale open-cell foams are used as high-temperature filters in the > chemical industry. Metallic foams used in compact heat exchangers increase > the heat transfer at the cost of an additional pressure drop. However, > their use permits the physical size of a heat exchanger to be reduced > substantially, and therefore also the fabrication costs. > *Closed-Cell Metal Foams.*Closed-cell > metal<http://www.americanelements.com/AEmetals.html> foams > have been developed since the 1950s, but although prototypes were > available, commercial production was started only in the 1990s. > Close-celled metal <http://www.americanelements.com/AEmetals.html> foams > are commonly made by injecting a gas or mixing a foaming agent into molten > metal <http://www.americanelements.com/AEmetals.html>. The material is > then stabilized using a high temperature foaming agent (usually nano- or > micrometer sized solid particles). The size of the pores, or cells, is > usually 1 to 8 mm. Closed-cell > metal<http://www.americanelements.com/AEmetals.html> foams > are primarily used as an impact-absorbing material. Unlike many polymer > foams,metal <http://www.americanelements.com/AEmetals.html> foams remain > deformed after impact and can therefore only be used once. They are light, > typically 10-25% of the density of the > metal<http://www.americanelements.com/AEmetals.html> they > are made of, which is usually > aluminum<http://www.americanelements.com/al.html>, > and stiff. Closed-cell foams retain the fire resistant and recycling > capability of other metallic foams but add an ability to float in water. Wouldn't a closed-cell nickel foam with hydrogen in the closed cells be intriguing? On Wed, Oct 10, 2012 at 8:05 AM, Teslaalset <[email protected]>wrote: > I read some discussions on reversing polarity doing electrolysis with > contantan coins. > > This is actually an interesting topic. > Using alloys in oxidizing mode (coin = anode = +), whole surface of > the coin will oxidize. > Reversing polarity (coin = cathode = -) will have an interesting > effect on the oxidized alloy: > - first the oxidized 'most noble' metal will be reduced by combining > hydrogen en metal oxide, forming the original metal and H2O. > This will create local holes in the coin's surface where 'most noble' > metal clusters are present. > - second: the oxidized 'least noble' metal will not as easy be > re-combined to metal and water because this oxide has a stronger O-M > bond and won't re-combine with H2 as easy as the 'most noble' metal in > the alloy. > - repeating this cycle of revering polarity will creat tiny craters in > the surface of the coin's surface, leaving the most noble metal > (Nickel in this case) able to absorb Hydrogen in the coin-cathode > mode. This method could create the NAE's Edmund Storms is referring > to. > > This proces of oxidation of alloys and selective oxide removal is part > of a Dutch patent published in 1997 (NL1001123C2) which is cited in > Francesco Celani's patent published in Feb. 2012 (WO2011016014A2) > describing improving hydrogen absorbtion of Nickel nano structures. > Remember Celani is the one that demo'ed the Constantan setup.....so, > could this be his pre-treatment method of his Constantan wire? > >
