Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Quick question about Graphite rods

Jstuyfzand - 27-8-2016 at 02:05

I just bought some graphite rods from Ebay (China) and while inspecting them I saw that they colored the plastic bag gray/black from the graphite.
Is this normal for graphite? I guess it is but in videos of people using these rods it looked less messy.
I dont see how I can plate something on this rod if the graphite can flake off like this....

Thanks, sorry if this is a silly question!

ecos - 27-8-2016 at 02:58

Can you provide a picture for this ?

Jstuyfzand - 27-8-2016 at 03:33

http://imgur.com/a/BeVQK

It seems like a very soft piece of pencil lead, like 6B or something.
I have never worked with these rods before so I dont really know what to expect.

hissingnoise - 27-8-2016 at 04:22

Quote:
It seems like a very soft piece of pencil lead, like 6B or something.

Yeah! And so we call it graphite!

Jstuyfzand - 27-8-2016 at 05:31

Quote: Originally posted by hissingnoise  
Quote:
It seems like a very soft piece of pencil lead, like 6B or something.

Yeah! And so we call it graphite!



I see, I never had pure graphite before so I thought It would be a little different from pencil lead, anyway, thread closed.

[Edited on 27-8-2016 by Jstuyfzand]

careysub - 27-8-2016 at 06:30

They add clay to graphite to make the harder pencil leads. The softest lead is pure graphite.

The ease with which the layers of graphite peel off it what makes graphite powder such a good dry lubricant.

When they built Chicago Pile-1 (CP-1), the world's first nuclear reactor, the men stacking the graphite blocks were black from the graphite that came off on them.

hissingnoise - 27-8-2016 at 09:46

Quote:
I see, I never had pure graphite before.

Sorry Jstuyfzand, I forgot that English isn't your first language.

Jstuyfzand - 27-8-2016 at 10:22

Quote: Originally posted by hissingnoise  
Quote:
I see, I never had pure graphite before.

Sorry Jstuyfzand, I forgot that English isn't your first language.



What does that have to do with this? :)



Anyway, I feel stupid now, I guess I expected that graphite rods would be different than pencil leads, turns out, it is the same.
Please let me die from the inside in solitude now.

Anyway, lets move on, nothing to see here, tssk tssk!

[Edited on 27-8-2016 by Jstuyfzand]

XeonTheMGPony - 27-8-2016 at 11:01

Quote: Originally posted by Jstuyfzand  
Quote: Originally posted by hissingnoise  
Quote:
I see, I never had pure graphite before.

Sorry Jstuyfzand, I forgot that English isn't your first language.



What does that have to do with this? :)
[Edited on 27-8-2016 by Jstuyfzand]


I think that is a very kind compliment!

And we all make mistakes on what we think Vs reality, I take pleasure when I learn new things :)

So take pleasure you now know for sure you got graphite and learned some interesting points in its usage.

So don't feel stupid at all, the only stupid question is the one that wasn't asked!

phlogiston - 27-8-2016 at 14:40

One other thing to note about graphite if you are going to use it for electrodes is that they are sometimes impregnated with something to extend their operating life. The graphite rods from batteries have been treated with something resembling paraffin, and I have treated graphite welding rods for use in chlorate cells.

Jstuyfzand - 27-8-2016 at 14:46

Quote: Originally posted by phlogiston  
One other thing to note about graphite if you are going to use it for electrodes is that they are sometimes impregnated with something to extend their operating life. The graphite rods from batteries have been treated with something resembling paraffin, and I have treated graphite welding rods for use in chlorate cells.


they seem quite pure, it came from china sold as graphite rods, so I dont expect any impurities.
I am looking to plate them with MnO2 for a chlor alkali cell, problably going the sulphate route, and treating the surface with HCL before plating, any advice/critique on that?

ecos - 30-8-2016 at 14:21

you are planning to use them for chlorate/perchlorate? if yes , it is better to plate them with PbO2