Re: [DIYbio] Non-Platinum Electrophoresis Electrodes That Don't Degrade

On Thu, Jun 06, 2013 at 01:58:36PM -0700, Nathan McCorkle wrote:
> I did this a few days ago, sorry it took me so long to grab the pics
> from devices.
>
> I added about a teaspoon of table salt to around 300mL of tap water,
> and electrolysed for probably an hour on an average of probably 6
> volts or so, using mechanical pencil leads. One section of the

There are better graphite electrodes available in your average
alcaline battery.

> positive lead swelled and snapped the end of that electrode off
> (splintered, not a clean snap). I'm guessing there was a bit of stress
> from dangling the wire into the jar and the electrode was pressing on
> the wall of the jar a bit. I don't think that would cause the swelling
> though. For kicks I tried grabbing the unbroken electrode, and
> grabbing it at points >1 inch apart I bent the rod, it sheared in a
> clean fashion, no splintering.
>
> http://diyhpl.us/~nmz787/pics/graphite_electrodes_fail/
>
> For $1/cm, I'm starting to think $10 or so for a gel box isn't too
> bad. It's certainly not give-away-for-free though. Maybe NaCl simply
> isn't a good test substitute for electrophoresis buffers (chlorine and
> NaOH production, in the buffer the NaOH would be dealt with at least).
>
> I'll have to try this again with different buffer.

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