Silver Nitrate making

[imagedowser]

I have a collection of silver casting scrap and a bottle of Nitric acid... Id like to make my own silver nitrate. Mees makes it sound fairly basic in his book "Photography". Any one have a reference to the procedure? Including safety procedures with the acid... Thanks, Bill

[Scott Walker]

I know nothing of making Silver Nitrate but I do know Jewellery, and casting scraps are likely Sterling which is 92.5% silver and the ballance copper but there may be other things in there as well like zinc. I have no idea if that is problematic with the process that you will be using but pure 99.9% silver is relatively cheap and easy to find. As far as safety procedures go for the acid you need to treat it as you would treat any toxic acid, Nitric acid is also corrosive. Use a fume hood and suit up.

[Jason Greenberg Motamedi]

To be blunt, if you have to ask, you shouldn't try.

Handling the acid isn't half the problem. Putting silver into nitric acid produces clouds of nitrogen dioxide, a highly toxic pollutant. If you don't have a lab-grade fume hood which is properly exhausted and (depending on local laws) has the correct filter installed in the exhaust, don't do this.

[Michael Cienfuegos]

You obviously don't have a fume hood, probably have never handled Nitric acid. Jason put it best: "If you have to ask, you shouldn't be thinking about it." You can sell your scrap to a refiner and then buy pure Silver Nitrate from the proper dealer. You aren't going to save any money by trying to DIY.

[Ron Marshall]

To be blunt, if you have to ask, you shouldn't try.

Handling the acid isn't half the problem. Putting silver into nitric acid produces clouds of nitrogen dioxide, a highly toxic pollutant. If you don't have a lab-grade fume hood which is properly exhausted and (depending on local laws) has the correct filter installed in the exhaust, don't do this.

Nitric acid and the gas evolved in this reaction are nasty.

[Scott Davis]

Not to mention the fact that silver nitrate is caustic and combustible. This is one of those things where it's far better off spending the (slightly) extra money to have a quality-controlled professionally produced product than trying to home-brew it and screwing something up so that at best you waste your silver on a non-functioning compound, and worst case you go blind and/or burn your house down trying to make it.

[Brian Ellis]

I'd give it a try. Unless you're a long distance runner you really don't need all of your lungs just to breathe. And only hypersensitive wusses are going to be put off by those red blisters all over your face.

[Kerik Kouklis]

http://lerch.no-ip.com/atm/DEAD.htm

[Monty McCutchen]

http://lerch.no-ip.com/atm/DEAD.htm


If this wasn't so damn serious this would be the funniest thing I've read in ages. That guy should be given an award of some kind.

Monty

[Preston]

I agree with the cautions and admonitions to not do this. Chemically pure silver nitrate is readily available.

--P

[goamules]

http://lerch.no-ip.com/atm/DEAD.htm

Holy crap. I'd agree....don't even think about it.

[Scott Walker]

http://lerch.no-ip.com/atm/DEAD.htm

That's funny, would anyone be stupid enough to use toxic acids in an uncontrolled environment. Especially an enclosed environment such as a house or appartment.

If used correctly there is really very little risk involved probably less than using the subway in most cities. I have used Aqua Regia for many years which is a mixture of concentrated nitric acid 85% or higher and concentrated hydrocloric acid.

[Kerik Kouklis]

That's funny, would anyone be stupid enough to use toxic acids in an uncontrolled environment.

I presume that's a rhetorical question because the answer is obvious.

[cyrus]

If I remember my inorganic chemistry right, Nitric Acid fumes off NO2 gas even at room temp, all on its own, without being mixed with anything.

Funny thing, you can buy the stuff freely and it is used to make copper plate etchings. I have a bottle under my kitchen sink...

[Scott Walker]

If I remember my inorganic chemistry right, Nitric Acid fumes of Nitrogen Dioxode gas even at room temp, all on its own, without being mixed with anything.

Something worth looking up, but I dont think it does unless it is in a concentrate higher than 85% and then it definately does. I will have to pull up a data sheet on it.

[Jason Greenberg Motamedi]

If I remember my inorganic chemistry right, Nitric Acid fumes off NO2 gas even at room temp, all on its own, without being mixed with anything.

Funny thing, you can buy the stuff freely and it is used to make copper plate etchings. I have a bottle under my kitchen sink...


Certain grades (ie "fuming") of Nitric acid produces nitrogen dioxide, not all.

[cyrus]

Certain grades (ie "fuming") of Nitric acid produces nitrogen dioxide, not all.

Yeah, I'll just sniff it to find out... :D
NOT.

[imagedowser]

Thanks for the response Scott... I used to make knives in my 'smithing days and etched with nitric and sulfuric (aqua regia) ... thanks everyone else for your concerns... I understand... Casting silver isn't 99% but silver dollars weren't pure and that's what the "old guys" used when needed in the 1800's. I expect to do this upwind & outside in the spring... (following Franks advice abt not being downwind from Kodak). My OP stated safety concerns, guess I got what I asked for... Still looking, Bill

[Bob Salomon]

That's funny, would anyone be stupid enough to use toxic acids in an uncontrolled environment. Especially an enclosed environment such as a house or appartment.

If used correctly there is really very little risk involved probably less than using the subway in most cities. I have used Aqua Regia for many years which is a mixture of concentrated nitric acid 85% or higher and concentrated hydrocloric acid.

Guess you never grew up with a Gilbert Chemistry Set in the late 40s and early to mid 50s then.

[Scott Walker]

Hey Bill, did you do any Damascus work. I have been making knives for many years. Which is one of the reasons I use these nasty chemicals on a fairly regular basis. I use nitric, muratic, hydroflouric, and Hydroclouric mostly. The aqua regia mix is used to dissolve alloyed gold to be precipitated back to pure.

[D. Bryant]

Guess you never grew up with a Gilbert Chemistry Set in the late 40s and early to mid 50s then.

The Gilbert Chemistry Set had a positive effect in some cases:

http://www.millenniumprize.fi/en/previous-prize-rounds/2008-2/winner/

[Scott Walker]

Guess you never grew up with a Gilbert Chemistry Set in the late 40s and early to mid 50s then.

Yeah but those chemicals were not toxic....at least not by 1950s standards :rolleyes:

[Bob Salomon]

The Gilbert Chemistry Set had a positive effect in some cases:

http://www.millenniumprize.fi/en/previous-prize-rounds/2008-2/winner/

Didn't help in my case.

[imagedowser]

Scott, Wrought iron and W-1,W-2 or O-1 tool steel... used the acid to bring out the grain in the wrought iron/steel matrix... made some chisels too. I do fine wood working now, classic guitars & lutes/ouds, mostly. Eddie says I should be making cameras.

[Jason Greenberg Motamedi]

... thanks everyone else for your concerns... I understand... Casting silver isn't 99% but silver dollars weren't pure and that's what the "old guys" used when needed in the 1800's. I expect to do this upwind & outside in the spring... (following Franks advice abt not being downwind from Kodak). My OP stated safety concerns, guess I got what I asked for... Still looking, Bill

Its like working with any of the CN salts in wet-plate, you can't really expect anyone to be encouraging. That said, it is certainly possible to make silver nitrate easily. Look at some of the old electroplating manuals (Google books), many of them provide detailed instructions for synthesizing silver nitrate as a step towards making silver cyanide.

Working nitric acid is easy. Wear appropriate gloves (Nitrile i think are OK, but double check before taking my word, I prefer the long gloves) and eye protection. Don't pour water into acid. It is best to work with it in a fume hood. Acid cartridges for the nuisance masks will work, but never have an end of life warning, so you really can't trust them. I keep one around for emergencies only.

As to how to make the silver nitrate without killing yourself? Well, I can't really offer any guidance there, but I imagine that you will need to do it in a fume hood, since I guess that one ingredient will have to be added slowly to the other. I think it is an exothermic reaction, so dumping the two together and running like hell probably will just lead to a mess.

[Robert Hughes]

Besides, there are so many other fun things you can do with nitric acid, mostly involving things that explode without warning...