[NewCandle] Anodizable metals and essential conditions forglowdischarge?

[Horace Heffner]

On Sep 17, 2008, at 11:19 AM, Keith Nagel wrote:

> Hi Horace,
>
> You write:
>> It still seems to me possible a significant glow occurs within the
>> electrolyte near the surface.
>
> If that is true then in the porous film the glow region
> would tend to extend thoughout the entire pore, rather
> than being concentrated at the surface of the inner barrier layer.

Not true.  The resistance from the conductor to the electrolyte is  
vastly greater to the top of the pore than to the bottom.  I would  
expect all the action to be at the bottom.  For thick pores, by the  
time you get the voltage high enough to activate the top you probably  
have arcing through the bottom.

Also, where the glow is depends on how many atoms thick the anode  
interphase is, which depends on applied voltage.

I would think pore forming is not good for maximizing voltage for a  
sustained glow due to the tendancy to form arcs and thus drain  
current and voltage gradient from the active areas.


>
> I expect that the glow phenomena matches that seen in ordinary glow
> discharges on electrodes in air/vacuum. That is to say, there is
> ignition and a glow discharge, then an anomalous glow discharge
> after the entire active surface area is glowing and more voltage
> is applied, then finally a breakdown to a spark. The pores would
> affect the anomalous glow region, and the eventual spark
> breakthough would be channeled by the pores.

This to me makes no sense.  Air discharges don't act like the anode  
interphase at all. Where is the diode effect?  Where is the similar  
low voltage range nearly linear i vs V conductivity curve?  Where is  
the post diode breakdown linear i vs V relationship?  Where is the  
mid-range voltage large capacitive effect?  Where is the required  
high tunneling rate? There is no polarized molecule chaining that  
clears out the interphase of ions, and that is an effect that strikes  
me as key to the set-up required to produce cold fusion by this method.


>
> A crude graph of the discharge regime can be found here.
>
> http://www.mksinst.com/docs/R/eni-SYE-TN.aspx

The object of conditioning for the glow is to avoid discharges  
altogether.  If you want arcs it is easy to make arcs.  That's  
essentially what Mizuno researched.

Arc suppression is not a feasible means to prevent electrospark mode,  
at least not for large plates. The arc rate is essentially continuous  
so the current would have to be permanently suppressed.


>
> ( as an aside, I suggested this power supply combo to Ed Storms for  
> his
> recent work on glow discharge. It's just the thing for working the AGD
> region ).
>
> you also wrote:	
>> I had no luck with magnesium when I tried it.  It may well work with
>> the right electrolyte.  I would guess acetic acid would have the best
>> chance of working.
>
> There are commercial processes for anodizing magnesium, so there is
> place to start. This page has a roundup of some of them.
>
> http://www.finishing.com/faqs/magnesium.html
>
> I wasn't sure from a quick search whether the resulting anodized layer
> could be pure magnesium oxide or just a chromate or phosphate.
>
> K.


You still have to experiment to see if the resulting layer can  
sustain a glow regime, and what electrolyte can sustain the passified  
layer while producing the glow regime.

My guess is if anything can develop and sustain a glow on a magnesium  
anode then acetic acid can, but that is just  a guess.  It may also  
be irrelevant because an acetic acid barrier, though quick to form,  
can not alone provide the high voltage barrier that is of interest.   
That said, it still may be of interest to see if acetic acid can  
enable a glow regime on Pd or Ni, and especially whether the  
anomalous long flashes can be obtained with those.

Best regards,

Horace Heffner
http://www.mtaonline.net/~hheffner/