<mrdata>
you can rinse them off before firing if you want
<mrdata>
even float them
<hozer>
some sort of rinse/wash is probably a good idea
<mrdata>
heck, you can probably compare these to starting with a pile of earth
<mrdata>
what sort of soil do you have?
<hozer>
hrrm
<hozer>
black, clay loam
<hozer>
you think aluminum and vanadium are the most likely contaminants?
<hozer>
The farm equipment is generally steel/iron (maybe some aluminum parts)
<mrdata>
aluminum is defrinitely a major component of clay
<mrdata>
the black is organic matter
<mrdata>
vanadium is only going to be around in traces, as is gallium i think
<mrdata>
other elements end up in this too usually
<hozer>
lots of dolomite limestone around too (Ca/Mg
<mrdata>
yes, but those will not be amphoteric
<mrdata>
oh, zinc will end up in the product as well i believe
<hozer>
hrrm
<hozer>
so galvanized sheet metal might be an issue
<mrdata>
yeah, anything amphoteric is going to get in
<mrdata>
so, at least for chip making, you want to purify your silica
<mrdata>
99.999% is okay for silicon solar cells
<mrdata>
there is a method for removing phosphorus and boron with molten calcium iirc
<mrdata>
fairly recent us patent
<mrdata>
aluminum is the number 1 contaminant probably
<mrdata>
biologically, it gets taken up by plants to some extent
<diginet>
it does not make sense to try and make your own wafers
<diginet>
I cannot see how it would ever be feasible to do so for an individual
<SpeedEvil>
Well - it depends.
<SpeedEvil>
i could see it being fun to make a working semiconductor from scratch
<SpeedEvil>
and that's not quite impossible.
<SpeedEvil>
Is it sensible or making economic sense - in almost no case
<SpeedEvil>
Sometimes stupid stuff is fun thouh.
* SpeedEvil
is seriously considering making an energy storage battery, for example.
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<hozer>
well, I can make a convoluted argument about how the only thing in my supply chain as a farmer that I can't replace myself are the computer chips for precision farming
<hozer>
thus it would be wise to invest in being able to make silicon wafers from corncobs
<hozer>
the reality is it makes no economic sense, except for one thing:
<hozer>
* leverage so farm equipment and silicon manufacturers know I won't buy their products unless I have the freedom and ability to replace the silicon chips
<hozer>
I can buy a used combine for say $5000 and fix it up, and it picks the same quality corn as a $250,000 new one that includes GPS auto-steer
<hozer>
so if I buy 2 or 3 used ones, and spend $100,000 developing/modifying some open-source autonomous robot software , I can pick corn faster for half the price
<SpeedEvil>
err - no - that's retarded
<SpeedEvil>
The starting point there isn't 'build a silicon chip'
<SpeedEvil>
It's 'buy a beaglebone black' or whatever
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<mrdata>
feasibility of making your own wafer has improved, though, since the patent i mentioned above