Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"
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chemistry
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chemistry
by pooja srinivasan » Wed Nov 09, 2011 4:56 am
Can i use zinc electrodes in the water splitting experiment instead of nickel?
- pooja srinivasan
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Tue Nov 08, 2011 11:20 am
- Occupation: Student
- Project Question: in the splitting of water experiment using the electrochemical cell , can zinc electrodes replace the nickel ones?
- Project Due Date: 10 november , 2011
- Project Status: I am conducting my experiment
Re: chemistry
by Craig_Bridge » Thu Nov 17, 2011 11:36 am
You "can" use any conductive metal as an electrode; however, you need to consider whether it will be involved in a chemical reaction or not. Nickel is doesn't oxidize as quickly as zinc does. This makes nickel a better choice for electrodes than zinc for these kinds of experiments. Does it matter to your experiment? That probably depends on how long the experiment has to run and how fast the zinc oxidizes in the experiment and how easy it is to clean the electrodes between runs.
-Craig
- Craig_Bridge
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Re: chemistry
by edneu3 » Thu Nov 17, 2011 12:39 pm
If you tell us just which experiment you are doing we might be able to give you a more specific answer.
Ed Neu
Buffalo, MN
Buffalo, MN
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- Project Status: Not applicable
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