Dear Our,

This is rather difficult to answer - but as a microbiologist I would favour microbes which are slowly producing a biofilm! This should be easily tested – if you have access to a microscope, you could look for bacterial cells or fungi – and if you have fresh electrolysis solution, you could transfer a small amount and see if it grows. Nickel is a toxic metal but there are plenty of bacteria that are resistant to high levels of this metal. What is probably more limiting however, are nutrients which I would have thought would not be found in the electrolysis solution.

Andrew

Dear Dr. Andrew Spiers,

Thanks much for your answer. Based on the information and insights you provided, I realized that there might be a nutrient inadvertently present in the nickel solution, leading to growth. I have identified what this nutrient is. Now, can this resulting structure be useful for any examination, or is it entirely unnecessary? I apologize for asking this, as it is entirely outside my field. Could you recommend any reference materials regarding these structures that may form in solutions including metal salts (nickel sulfate like mine) containing such nutrients? I will conduct research based on your guidance. Thank you very much for your guidance.

Onur

If you suspect it is organic you could always filter sterilize your plating waste in a sterile laminar flow hood and then store it in a sealed container.

Maybe you can provide some more details as to what reagents are in your plating solution?

Dear Dr. Robert Adolf Brinzer,

Thanks for your answer. For me, there is no problem with contamination of the solution. I just wanted to have an idea about the structure because I was very curious about why this mushroom-like structure could form in nickel solution and whether this structure could be used for any material field. I think a fatty component was accidentally mixed into the nickel solution, which is why the structure was formed.