Electrochemistry Silver Cell Anode Bag

[MysticColby]

So I have some questions about the anode bag used in a silver cell. Before you say it: I've already searched the boards, and while there are topics that go over this, I feel they aren't clear enough and don't answer some questions. So here goes:
What are good materials to make an anode bag for a silver cell out of?
"muslin cloth" has been recommended, but the only muslin cloth I've seen is super thin with huge holes between the threads; you can see through it clearly. Is this what is being referred to?
"polynap" and "polypropylene" I've also seen, but what about pore size, threads per inch, thickness, etc?
would a 100% cotton T-shirt work? I've never heard it mentioned, yet it seems an obvious first try.
300 thread-per-inch 100% cotton cloth?
why cloth at all? what about a coffee filter?
Thanks

 

[philddreamer]

I used an old pair of jeans, and it worked! :mrgreen:

Phil

 

[NobleMetalWorks]

Here are two items on eBay that would work, and are inexpensive.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Polypropyle...313?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3a76c94219

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-of-25-N...065?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c61bb3239

The second link is $90 for 25 bags, very affordable...

Scott

 

[Palladium]

Just a thought!

http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=11677&p=141635&hilit=walmart+muslin#p141635


Walmart item #'s 17200893
17200891
20684041

 

[NobleMetalWorks]

Just a thought!

http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=11677&p=141635&hilit=walmart+muslin#p141635


Walmart item #'s 17200893
17200891
20684041

Very nice and simple design! I was thinking about a stainless steel sleeve on the inside of a plastic pale, but this seems a lot more simple.

Thanks for the link

Scott

 

[Lou]

We use JoAnn fabric's 110 thread (I have no idea what this means) untreated muslin for the anode bag. We now put a thin canvas liner in the bottom of our Thum cells.

Works great.

 

[samuel-a]

I'm using reusable shopping bags: bags
the PP is impervious to the silver nitrate and AR.
I don't know the pore size or thread count per inch, but i do know, that as long as you don't juggle it too hard, no slimes will go through. The flow of ions does not seems to be disturbed.

 

[goldsilverpro]

In the old books, for Thum cells, they used canvas with unbleached muslin (100 threads per inch) on top of it. The sludge was collected by removing the muslin, leaving the canvas in the cell basket. Then, a new piece of muslin was put on top of the canvas. When I ran cells, I used just a double thickness of muslin with no canvas. I bought the muslin from Walmart. It had sizing in it, though, and it took about an hour in the solution before current would pass through it. There's probably a better way to get rid of the size before putting it into the cell basket.

Whatever cloth is used, if it is too tightly woven, it can act as a diaphram and deplete the solution of silver.

 

[Harold_V]

There's probably a better way to get rid of the size before putting it into the cell basket.

Run it through a washing machine.

Harold

 

[MysticColby]

wow, so much useful information, thank you!

 

[donnybrook]

The bags you can buy at supermarkets are exactly the same material they use to cover your plates with. The silver anion or cation (not ure what its electro potential is) moves toward the plate in solution and either coats the plate or drops into the bag. I built an electrowinning unit and that is what I used. Works well.You would need something like fine cat gut or fibreglass thread to sew it up.
donnybrook

 

[MysticColby]

It seems weird because I asked the question, but I'd like to add to this list.
Basically, I had this already going but it seemed slow. I then asked to see if it might be appropriate or if there were convenient alternatives.
I've been using 2 bags, the outer bag is this this: (25 micron, I think) http://www.dudadiesel.com/choose_item.php?id=POGP2S
The inner bag is a coffee filter like this: http://janebrenner.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/coffee-filters1.jpg

When I first started it, I did 3v and crystals started forming immediately, but soon came to a dead stop and didn't do anything. After several hours, it started growing again and has been going well ever since.
I recently decided to see how the bag was doing. There was indeed a lot of slime. And it was all contained inside the coffee filter. Lifted that out, put new filter in, and kept going. Too easy not to share it with you guys.
The slime, do you just melt it, bag and all, then process it to recover any PMs?

As an aside, I tried making electrolyte directly from cemented silver (without melting it first). It was green-tinted instead of blue as it was before. The silver crystals it grew were also green-tinted and bushy at first. I decided to make fresh electrolyte from some of the earlier crystals, but I also collected the greenish crystals to melt into anodes. These were among the greenish part:

They are the most solid pieces I've made so far, total is 8.84g. I ran it at about 1.5v

 

[mikeinkaty]

Fyi - I used coffee filters on all my runs. My silver was 4 ounce .990 bars with an alumimum wire pounded into one end. The coffee filters were folded around the bar and secured to the wire with a small plastic zip tie. The bags were suspended in the electrolyte so that the top of the bar was at the surface. That worked fine and nothing other than the silver atoms made it through the filters. Oh, I guess the copper atoms made it through too. At least no slime made it through. The cell current would drop to zero when the bar was depleted.

Mike

 

[Palladium]

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=Muslin++bags&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313&_nkw=Muslin++bags&_sacat=0