Wire Yttria coating electrophoresis

Every fusor and fusion system seems to need a vacuum. This area is for detailed discussion of vacuum systems, materials, gauging, etc. related to fusor or fusion research.
Post Reply
ian_krase
Posts: 636
Joined: Mon Nov 28, 2016 2:48 am
Real name: Ian Krase

Re: Wire Yttria coating electrophoresis

Post by ian_krase »

How much did the Nyacol yttria colloid cost you?
Silviu Tamasdan
Posts: 147
Joined: Wed Jun 28, 2006 7:17 pm
Real name: Silviu Tamasdan
Location: Connecticut

Re: Wire Yttria coating electrophoresis

Post by Silviu Tamasdan »

I see an unanswered question in the OP that I may field.

I have used surfactants in electrolysis before, and in one case it was precisely for this reason (prevent gas bubble adhesion to avoid pitting).

It was a different application though so take this with a grain of salt.

I used Triton X-100, a nonionic surfactant, at 0.5% concentration. It gave reasonable results. The application was coating of a graphite anode with a layer of lead dioxide. The electrolysis conditions were vastly different (DC 4V, about 800mA for ~20min). The Triton degrades slowly over these conditions so its surfactant properties decrease over time but it should be good enough for runs of up to 1h. I don't know how it would fare under your conditions though.

Another method that I used to deal with bubbles in this particular system was centrifugal force. Essentially the piece to be coated is spun during electrolysis by a small electric motor. I used a 6V 20000rpm motor that I undervolted to 1.5V; this combined with the inertia of the piece+connecting shaft and the friction with the electrolyte resulted in a rotation speed of about 300rpm. That is enough to knock off bubbles as they form. Caution if you use surfactant at the same time as it can lead to a significant amount of foaming.

(edit) Here's a short video that I made during that process.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/lpuqob9fl9ruj ... t.mp4?dl=0
There _is_ madness to my method.
Jeroen Vriesman
Posts: 276
Joined: Mon Feb 07, 2011 4:08 pm
Real name: Jeroen Vriesman
Location: Netherlands
Contact:

Re: Wire Yttria coating electrophoresis

Post by Jeroen Vriesman »

Ian,

I ordered a sample of the yttria colloid.
It was for free.
Post Reply

Return to “Vacuum Technology (& FAQs)”