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Electrolytic Iron: Brown Ferrous Electrolyte, Rotating Cathode at 75-77 °C, Graphite Anodes (Bouchayer, US 1,516,326)
Iron plated out of a fresh green ferrous bath comes off rough and useless. Bouchayer first stirred the bath in air until it turned bright brown; the iron oxychloride formed takes care of the hydrogen at the cathode, and the deposit grows even and compact at high current.
Result: electrolytic iron, deposited at about 98 % current yield.
Source: Bouchayer, US 1,516,326 (1924). Not given: cathode material, purity of the iron. Picture drawn by Youblob.
Advanced
Factory process
Instructions
1
1
Make up the electrolyte at 20 °Bé
Make up the electrolyte at 20 °Bé
Dissolve ferrous sulfate in water (Bouchayer also allows ferrous chloride or a mix). Concentration: e.g. 20 °Bé, then keep it constant.
Materials for this step:
Ferrous Sulfate1 as requiredTools needed:
Water
Hydrometer
Electrolysis Tank2
2
Stir it in air until brown
Stir it in air until brown
Agitate the green bath in air, e.g. by turning the anode, until it is bright brown and stops foaming. Used green, it gives only an irregular deposit.
Tools needed:
Electrolysis Tank3
3
Circulate it through iron filings
Circulate it through iron filings
Pump the electrolyte through a mass of iron filings in a separate vessel; it takes back iron and forms the ferric hydroxide that keeps the bath working. Keep it moving fast past the anodes: this lowers the phosphorus.
Materials for this step:
Iron Filings1 as requiredTools needed:
Water Pump4
4
Deposit on a rotating cathode
Deposit on a rotating cathode
Electrolyse between graphite anodes and a rotating cathode. Temperature: e.g. 75-77 °C at 1000 A/m², held exactly constant and below boiling; cathode speed: e.g. 120 m/min at 800 A/m². Cathode material: not given.
Tools needed:
Graphite Electrode
DC Power Supply
ThermometerElectrolysis Tank5
5
Strip and reheat the deposit
Strip and reheat the deposit
Take the compact iron deposit off the cathode; it is usable after a slight reheating (temperature not given).
Tools needed:
Electrolysis TankMaterials
2- 1 as requiredPlaceholder
- 1 as requiredPlaceholder
Tools Required
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