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Steve
Zinc oxide
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Zinc-Oxide-Powder-1-lb-with-FREE-SHIPPING-/120567402690
Ed
Many thanks for that link Ed.
However I can report I have now ordered the final chemicals needed, i.e. Zinc Oxide powder, and powdered Mercury ore.
I've opted for Sodium Hydroxide electrolyte rather than potassium, since I already have a large amount in stock. It will make no difference to the cell voltage.
I did have a small amount of metal mercury, which I've taken to mercury nitrate and pyrolised to pure mercury oxide and it should be more than enough quantity to make a cathode of the first test cell.
In future I plan to obtain metal mercury from mercury ore, which I've found a good supply of. For this I will need to build a small propane powered furnace and condenser, though with my intended design I'm confident I should have mercury steadily dripping down a condenser outlet into a flask.
Amazing that despite the EU and it's spineless British government banning everything containing mercury, I was still able to do this, and with constituents widely available. You just need to know where to look.
(probably some filthy grubby EU lobbyist banned it because he personally had a stockpile, thus creating a rarity and driving the value up - corruption again)
But for me the most rewarding part was making near as damn pure mercury oxide all by myself, after getting refused business by a certain namby pamby British chemical company.
Unless anyone knows different I reckon I must be the only individual in the world who's making his own mercury cells, after searching for many months I've not found anyone else doing this.
Last edited on Sun Nov 11th, 2012 04:32 by steve of oxford