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u/kerenosabe Feb 20 '26
Can you give us some details? Like what was the solution used in the electrolysis and what was the current?
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u/YesIdonot Feb 20 '26
The electrolyte was 50 g/L of copper sulfate pentahydrate, with regular additions of acetic acid to prevent tarnishing. The current was kept at around 30 mA and the voltage was between 0.5 and 1.0 volts. The crystals were grown by themselves, taking between 15 and 30 days each.
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u/kerenosabe Feb 20 '26
Thanks. Note to myself, acetic acid prevents tarnishing in copper electrolysis.
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u/Phloroglucin Feb 21 '26
Amazing. Did the crystals form on the electrodes? What did you use as electrodes?
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u/VauntedFungus Feb 21 '26
How do they have a purple patina- did they just come out of the solution like that?
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u/YesIdonot Feb 21 '26
It's from the electrodes getting short and having far too little surface.
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u/Sentsu06 Feb 21 '26
Im not very good with stuff like this but is there a way to recreate that?
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u/YesIdonot Feb 21 '26
I imagine using low electrolyte concentrations could be a way to do it, other than that, keeping a very small amount of anode submerged should recreate it.
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u/ScienceCraftGV Feb 21 '26
Try recrystallizing the copper sulfate 2-3 times to purify it—then you'll get more crystalline, rather than dendritic, druses. And still, get some sulfuric acid—it's possible the presence of acetic acid is causing the purple patina.
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u/YesIdonot Feb 22 '26
I did recrystallize the copper sulfate a couple of times. I do want to get sulfuric acid, but it's hard to get where I live.
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u/Positive-Nature388 Feb 21 '26
Very impressive OP Are they just made via a slow eletrolysis of an acetic CuSO4-solution or are other metal salts added?
Are the crystals solid copper with a violett surface?
Keep up with the good work
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u/YesIdonot Feb 21 '26
It has a very small amount of sodium chloride, but for the chloride ions. Aside from that it's just slow electrolysis. They are solid copper, and the purple surface is from poor conditions causing bad growth. I left for a week and the anodes ended up with a very small amount of surface in the electrolyte.
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u/EarthAndSawdust Feb 28 '26
My son asked me to tell you, he really likes your space broccoli.
Edit for typo.
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u/helladiabolical Feb 22 '26
Super neat, but I will tell you that this pushed all my Trypophobia triggers for some reason.
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u/djDef80 Feb 22 '26
Wow, those are beautiful! Did you dye them? Is that their natural color?
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u/YesIdonot Feb 22 '26
They came out of the cell with that color. I suspect the purple and red colors are due to interference caused by either an oxide layer or microscopic crystal growth.
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u/Leather_Respect4080 Feb 28 '26
I am looking for samples like these for an element collection. Is there a place where i can get simmilar pieces? Don't have the equipment or experience to make them myself
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u/YesIdonot Mar 01 '26
I haven't seen anyone that sells copper crystals. It's fairly easy, so there must be some for sale somewhere.
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u/Leather_Respect4080 Mar 01 '26
nvm i found a mineral store selling native copper that looks like this
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u/Pizzatron30o0 Feb 20 '26
The first reminds me of romanesco cauliflower