We've looked at copper pipes and plates as potential materials for our prototype copper plate discoloration test for hydrogen sulfide.
What are some other options? We're looking for:
- low cost
- easy to cut would be nice
- small, say 3x3 inches or less?
- can be scrubbed with acetone or solvent to clean off
- high purity copper?
What have folks tried, or wanted to try out? We're hoping to make a prototyping kit for this!
Also see this related question about setup:
What's the best setup for a copper rod or copper plate test for DIY hydrogen sulfide detection?
And this one about how to scrub them clean before testing:
Can you use rubbing alcohol for prepping copper for Hydrogen Sulfide test?
I was looking for some pre-cut smaller pieces of copper in standard sizes, in part to avoid the warping that cutting big sheets with shears can cause. I found these copper stamping blanks that have 2 holes predrilled:
https://www.amazon.com/RMP-Stamping-Blanks-Rectangular-Copper/dp/B00MHWRLDI/
They're $13 for 10, so $1.30 each, and the holes could make it easier to mount them.
But what's best is that they have a protective film coating -- designed for stamping through with letters and numbers. I was thinking that potentially this could be removed when you want to start the test, presenting a consistent surface at least the first time... but in any case preserving the surface even before you sand it down and acetone it as per Gretchen's documented method: (#15142)
They're 1"x2" with rounded corners:
I'm liking this a lot. I might want to try these for my experiment as I think snipping copper is hazardous LOL. Also, this could make an interesting campaign if you have people wearing their exposure levels.
Great notes on choosing different copper pipes (apparently there's red copper and blue copper?) by @sara on this post:
https://publiclab.org/notes/sara/5-2-2012/materials-copper-pipe-work
Also a good discussion of whether adhesive copper foil could work, or if it'd interact with the acetone badly, with @gretchengehrke and @zengirl2:
https://publiclab.org/notes/gretchengehrke/11-02-2017/copper-sheet-hydrogen-sulfide-detection-activity#c17756
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