Crystal Power CeLL by John Hutchison

[Nihilanth]

I also thought of using carbon, but i didn't know about the whole semiconductive thing, I was thinking something more along the lines of a carbon nanotube formation... or something would happen. Until I know where I can find clinker, because I already have some silica gel (and don't have to pay for it), I'm going to try it first. As for Bismuth, I remember reading a few things about it having odd piezoelectrical properties, and I figured it might be worth adding it one time to see how it effects it. It's the main ingredient in Pepto-Bismol.

I've got a whole list of things I'm going to try, or want to try, but can't find a cheap source. I don't even really remember why for most of them.

• Feldspar - Bon Ami Cleaning Powder
• Silicon - Silica Gel
• Aluminum - Aluminum foil
• Calcite - Chalk
• Carbon - Graphite
• Zeolite - Aquarium Zeolite Cartridges
• Borax
• Table Salt
• Epsom Salt
• Rochelle Salt
• Quinine - Tonic water
• Teflon
• Silicon Carbide - Waterproof Sandpaper Sheet
• Soda Ash
• Sodium hydroxide - Lye soap
• Iodine
• Zinc oxide - Zinc Oxide Ointment
• Lanthanum -  Fosrenol chewable tablet
• Polyvinyl Fluoride - Insulation Repair & Fabrication Tape


• Lithium carbonate
• Zirconium
• Gallium
• Germanium
• Pyrite
• Barium Titanate
  
• Lead Monoxide
• Tungsten carbide

Is there a reason for the aspirin? I know I'm not exactly a good source of explainations myself, but It sounds like you actually have a plan. The use of urine reminded me of something about herapathite, but I'm too tired and can't remember what it was.

[Koen1]

Hmmm... I like the Zeolite suggestion.
The only problem I have with it is that Zeolite is yet another one of those substances that is not
really one specific substance, but rather a whole family of variations of a substance.
The whole family of known variants consists of about 50 different chemical compounds.
So if you're talking about Zeolite, which exact Zeolite are you talking about?
(for some more info, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeolite )
I mean, just fyi, zeolite of unknown type is used in those aquarium cartridges Nihilanth suggested,
but zeolite is also a main ingredient in most laundry/washing powders, as well as the compound
used in kitty litter to capture the smells... And it is used in water decalcinators...

I'm going to try to get hold of some from a nearby pool and warer-cleaning company, their variant
is probably a form of zeolite known as Clinoptilolite, with specific chemical formula
(Na,K,Ca)2-3Al3(Al,Si)2Si13O36 (12 aq) or in other words (Na/K/Ca)2-3 + Al3(Al/Si)2 + 13 SiO2 + 12 H2O.
I'm hoping to be able to get a variation with as little K and Ca as possible, as that will connect better with
the mix I have at the moment, which already contains sodium silicate as well (from the waterglass, thanks Jeanna ).
It also contains quite a bit of silver sand which is quite pure quartz sand, so there's quite a bit of SiO2 in there already...
The Zeolite might just bind this together better than the boiling waterglass did... while not altering the mix composition
too much.
Indeed, adding mica is a good idea. But keep an eye on the exact type of mica used.
And here too, I feel I need to point out that Mica is a term used for a family of substances, which share
characterisitics. This family consists of several types of mica, generally classified as hard or brittle micas.
A quick grab of different mica types: Lepidolite (hard), Phlogopite, Biotite, Zinnwaldite, Clintonite (brittle), Muscovite,
Phengite. More types are known.
Some micas are very hard, others are quite brittle, and some are fine grained and occur in clays.
Some micas are found as relatively large sheets and/or layered rocks, and as scrap- and flake-mica. These latter two
are also common constituents in many rock and sediment types. Granite is one of the many rock types mica can be
found in. The most common variations of mica have a chemical composition akin to:
(Na/K/Ca)2 (Al/Mg/Fe)4-6 (Si/Al)8 O20 (OH/F)4. As you can see, the room for variation in that is already quite large.
But even if we ignore the fact that even more variations are possible with elements of Li, Ba, Rb, Cs, Cr, Mn, Ti, etc,
we can recognise some similarities... The Na/K/Ca base for example, which seems to be quite common in silicate compounds.

I'm not so sure about the quinine in Nihilanths list, but then again I'm a little doubful on the aspirin in Ians experiment too.
Taking a wee in your ceramic mix however is completely natural, of course. lol

[Koen1]

Here's a few pics of one of my most recent cells.
It's one of the cells containing 30-40% silver sand (quartz sand, mostly SiO2)
in a mix I was using before. Mainly a mix of several silicates,
mostly concentrated waterglass, with some other random silicate compounds
as well as some sludge from the previous mix, which was basically the same
but with several natural rock samples crused to powder and mixed in.
For comparison in both size and voltage I'll stick in a pic of a reading on a normal
alkaline 1.5 volt battery.
Enjoy.

Kind regards,
Koen

[ian middleton]

G'day all,

@Koen : Way to go mate, that's a healthy looking voltage you got there. What is it's current output?
            So far the P Cell is mainly galvanic and it gives 1.01V @ 22mA but reduces very quickly down to about 2mA. We'll see what it does when it dries out. If ever you have seen aspirin crystals growing you will see they are very dynamic and have the ability to bind small particles together. The hope was that I could create a neutral barrier between the crushed silicates  and the alkali mix using the acidic properties of aspirin. Then use a polarizing voltage to set up the bias. I'm letting this one harden at room temp, I don't want to decompose any of the chemistry with heat. I'll let you know how it turns out.

At this time I'm running out of supplies and this is slowing me down.
Roll on next payday.

Koen thanks again for all the valuable info you have provided.

Anyway I'm off to crush my last bits of calcite and pyrites and I'll be looking in on old Stubblefield,
I've just realized something. Houston we have a connection 

all the best   Ian

[Koen1]

Ian,

to be honest the current of that cell is a bit disappointing, but I need to do some more testing to be sure.
If I short it, the voltage drops to zero and only occasional fluctuations of max 4 mV can be seen, but when
I remove the short the voltage rebuilds in a few minutes time...
I'll test it some more, and try it with a proper little resistor instead of only a short.
Although there doesn't deem to be much amperage (as far as I've tested this one, which is not a lot ),
the voltage is at least getting somewhere. Now I'm going to try to raise the (semi)conductivity by adding
more metal (salts) and/or reducing the hydrogen and oxygen content of the silica mix...
I'm hoping an increased conductivity will increase amperage.

But of course this cell needs to be left alone in a quiet place for a while, shorted, to see if it still performs
the same after a month or so.

Ian, what equipment do you use to generate the high voltage you apply to your "cookies"?

see you around