Homemade Diodes

[AbbaRue]

A homemade diode that can take high voltage and won't burn out. Sound Good?
Place an aluminum electrode and a chromium or stainless steel electrode into baking soda and water.
The aluminum plate is the cathode(+ output ) and the other metal plate is the anode(- output)
I made an awsome bridge rectifier from an old plastic egg carton.
Using the top and bottom parts of the carton to make 4 diodes of 6 chambers each. 
This baby can handle over 1000 volts. and if you short it out there is nothing to burn out.
Not usefull for portible devices but it works awsome for home experimenting.
Just using 4 chambers in a bridge setup, works well up to about 160 volts.
The baking soda mixture is about 1 table spoon in 2 cups of water. This isn't that critical.
The aluminum plates I used were about 1/2 inch wide.
and I used chromium plated metal for the other plate about the same width.
I cut the chromium plates from chromium trays I got at the dollar store, but stainless steel works well to.
In fact almost any metal will work for the anode, but the cathode must be aluminum,
but many metals will make the water dirty, so I recommend chromium or stainless steel.
Hope this will come in handy for someone who needs a diode in a hurry that don't burn out.
This also works as an electrolytic capacitor. [diode and capacitor in one interesting concept]
If anyone comes up with another metal besides aluminum that works let me know please.

[triffid]

Titaninum might work too.I made a liquid diode such as you described.baking soda solution using lead and aluminumRan 110 volts household  through  it for a few seconds(about 5).the solution was yellow whereas before it was clear.tiffid

[Koen1]

Seems to me this would produce electrochemical inter- and reactions...
doesn't it?
Perhaps not yet with the materials you're using, and the polarity you're
applying...
But everyone knows aluminium oxidises quite rapidly and then forms
aluminium oxide which seriously hinders any electrical current.
Seems to me that would definately have a negative effect on the diode
function...

Nice and simple oldschool tinkering though, I like that.

[AbbaRue]

The diode doesn't work as a diode until a good coating of oxide forms on the aluminum.
So if you build one you have to slowly build up the voltage you apply so the oxide can build.
Also if you over drive these the oxide gets holes in it and then needs to be built up again.
The more you use these diodes the better they seem to work.

Try making one yourself, it's super easy. 
The last ones I was making used aluminum strips 1/2 inch wide and stainless steel wire.
I used them to run a 600 volt power supply because I was waiting for my 1000 volts diodes to arrive in the mail.
I made it from a plastic egg crate using 6 in series for each section of the bridge rect.

Aluminum oxide comes in different colours according to the impurities in it.
If it's red it's called A Ruby (the gem)
if it's any other colour such as blue it's called A Sapphire (the gem).
Another name for aluminum oxide is corundum.

Sapphires have been used to make radio crystals as well, but are far more expensive then quartz so quartz is use.
Probably this quality is why it works as a diode.

[PulsedPower]

Interesting, sounds like it would work with any "valve metal" Have you measured the reverse polarity capacitance?