Ibpointless2 Crystal Cells

[triffid]

I wanted to park this here.Big j helped me find it by providing a link on choatropic agents of which urea was one.   Urea can in principle serve as a hydrogen source for subsequent power generation in [/size]fuel cells[/font][/size]. Urea present in urine/wastewater can be used directly (though bacteria normally quickly degrade urea.) Producing hydrogen by electrolysis of urea solution occurs at a lower voltage (0.37V) and thus consumes less energy than the electrolysis of water (1.2V).[/size][11]




.37 volts/1.2 volts hmmm.

[PhiChaser]

I unhooked my four (series) cells  from the microammeter and back up to the VOM as quickly as I could and got a voltage reading of 0.99v before it started climbing. Right now (after two hours or so) the VOM says I've got 1.56v and it is sitting there pretty steady (or climbing really slowly anyways). EDIT: 1.61v, slowly climbing I guess... ANOTHER EDIT: 1.65 and slowly slowly climbing... Time to switch over to the uA meter.
Time to use some of my new salt powders to create some new cells.
I should also add some readings to my journal (as well as add the newer cells not yet entered) but I want to leave those four cells hooked up for a few more hours anyways... Then maybe back to the microammeter?
Cheers all! BTW, I like the way you guys are looking in all different directions for answers!
@ triffid: Don't worry about the eye surgery (too much), my grandmother had her cataract removal videotaped (back in the day)... Kind of weird seeing her eyeball taking up an entire t.v. screen!

Happy experimenting,
PC

[triffid]

Thanks Pc for the kind word ,today is the day for the right eye.I redid the can capactor experiment.I was suspicious of my readings so far.I took an alligator clip and made contact with both leads for ten minutes to drain the capacitor.Then I stuck it upside down in the dry epsom salts being careful none of the leads touched any crystals.And left there overnight.This morning I  pulled it out of the crystals being careful not to discharge.Took a reading and had nothing,nothing,nothing.I then measured the two dry electrodes in the dry crystal and found a top reading of .011 volts.Now that I think about it.Maybe my pulling the capacitor out of the bottle did something?To create more voltage?




As time permits I will take more readings to see if the voltage keeps climbing. Day one I had .004 volts,day 2 I had .008 volts,Now day three I have.011 volts.

triffid

[b_rads]

@Ibpointless2:
You have been very quiet of late, do not let recent events get you down.  I invite you to try the bioplastic stove top mix that I have worked with.  The original mix is now 6 weeks old and the sheet sandwiched between copper foil and magnesium is still running very strong.  I have used this cell to power lidmotors low power circuits as well as lasersabers low power joule ringer circuit.  I am planning to make another batch this weekend and make several cells to see how they work in series and parallel.  If it would help, I can video the making of the mix, just let me know.

  Brad S

[PhiChaser]

I made 8 cells yesterday, all of them some 'cube' variant using an ice cube tray as a mold. So far this technique has made it VERY easy for me to make cells this way. It goes something like this: Measure # Tbsp Alum, Epsom, Durhams, (whatever additives), H20; Mix in plastic bowl and pour into trays; Jab some electrodes in and let the cell dry. The lastest series of cells have come out of the trays easily after 'drying' in just an hour or two! Nice huh? I date the bottom of the cells with permanent marker, date a piece of paper that has the 'recipe' on it, and after drying half a day or so bag the cells and paper together in a plastic bag for later testing...
This morning I did a bunch of measurements and found that my highest performing 'cube' cells were the ones with vitamin c as an additive. Those cells had WAY higher amperage and voltage readings so I have made a similar 'recipe' this morning to test if more vitamin c will give me higher readings still (3 cells). I try to do at least two at a time just for redundancy... Makes sense to me anyways!
My carbon supply is getting low so I have to order some soon. Ugh...
The four cells I hooked up to the microammeter yesterday did a big rollercoaster: At hookup I got 65uA which fell fairly quickly and then bottomed out around 32uA where the amps went back UP to about 50uA only to start falling DOWN again and land at 30uA (and still slowly falling). It would be interesting to do a stop-motion on these cells for 24-48 hours to watch the needles move... I didn't wait to see if it went back up again, I don't have enough uA meters but have a couple more ordered so I will be able to do more long-term amperage testing in about a week..

Anyhow, I may take some pics later. I still have a lot of note taking to catch up on.

Happy experimenting all,
PC

EDIT: I looked up vitamin c (L-ascorbic acid) on wikipedia and it said that the chemical formula is C₆H₈O₆. It also said there is a mirror image of the molecule that functions biologically the same. Does this mean it can 'fit' into the crystal structure we're looking for in either direction (neutral/non/variable polarity??)? Also, my real question is this: Can the formula up there for vitamin C be re-written as C₆O₂ . 4H₂O?? Is it the same? I wish I knew chemistry better...