I am still confused with the perchlorate cell ... if I'm using a platinum anode .. is started by running sodium chloride or sodium chlorate? .... what is the best method for perchlorate cell with a platinum anode?

Bert,

I've never really used the salting-out method, but my understanding is that saturated NaCl solution is added to force precipitation of the NaClO3. The solubility of NaClO3 in water drops quite rapidly as the NaCl concentration goes up, so I'd imagine it just precipitates out to the bottom of the vessel.

It is really a way to force more NaClO3 out than you would otherwise get just by concentration and cooling. It is probably useful if you want to extract the most NaClO3 per run and collect it for use in a Perchlorate cell. Go too far however and NaCl will come out too; you won't have gained much "purity" if the desire was to keep the Chloride concentration low for your Perchlorate cell.

Regards,

Alan

Talking about the "salt out" method,will the sodium chlorate floats in top in the surface(because of water evaporation) or settle to the bottom, after adding sodium chloride to saturate it?