# NanoArc Chemistry Applications Idea Register

**Status:** Concept backlog; not experimentally validated  
**Recorded:** 2026-08-13  
**Authority:** Tristan selects priorities and authorizes experimental work

This register preserves candidate chemistry and materials applications for
NanoArc and future ACE work. Usefulness ratings are planning judgments, not
evidence of feasibility, safety, compatibility, or performance. Each candidate
requires its own literature review, hazards review, materials-compatibility
check, experiment plan, and acceptance criteria before implementation.

| Candidate | NanoArc usefulness | Future ACE usefulness | Why it is interesting |
|---|---:|---:|---|
| Sodium acetate trihydrate | High | High | Phase-change thermal storage; directly relevant to thermal cartridges and temperature-control experiments. |
| Sodium citrate / citrate salts | Medium-High | High | Metal-ion complexing and buffering; potentially useful for exploring electroplating without immediately moving to exotic plating chemistry. |
| Calcium alginate hydrogel | Potentially high | High | Immobilizes liquids and electrolytes; may provide a controllable wet interface for the plating-pen concept. |
| Agar or gel-electrolyte formulations | Medium-High | High | Another route to retaining an electrolyte at a tool tip without a conventional reservoir or bath. |
| Graphite/binder conductive composite | High | Very high | Candidate for inexpensive resistive electrodes, experimental strain/contact sensors, antistatic coatings, sacrificial conductive traces, and surface-resistance experiments. |
| Carbon-loaded resistive material | Medium-High | Very high | Could let ACE characterize homemade resistors or sensors and explore pressure- or strain-dependent resistance. |
| Alum crystals | Low | Medium | Inexpensive, repeatable crystal-growth and environmental-test material that ACE could monitor alongside Rochelle salt. |
| Casein-based dielectric or plastic | Low | Medium | Homemade insulating material for dielectric, humidity, and ageing characterization. |
| Starch/gelatin polymer films | Low | Medium-High | Inexpensive experimental humidity-sensitive and dielectric materials. |
| Iron-tannate complexes | Low-Medium | Medium | Candidate for corrosion, surface-chemistry, optical-sensing, and electrical-sensing experiments. |
| Salt-hydrate mixtures | High | High | Supports systematic PCM formulation experiments instead of committing the programme to one thermal-storage material. |

## Routing notes

- Current programme work remains SAT preparation, cell qualification, and
  crystallization control.
- Graphite and conductive-composite work should reference the recorded
  Black Donald specimen without presuming that specimen's composition.
- Plating-electrolyte and plating-pen concepts remain separate experimental
  proposals; this register does not authorize a formulation or ACE connection.
- Future ACE use must remain electrically and revision agnostic until a specific
  interface proposal is reviewed through the applicable project rules.