Originally Posted by
Anthony O
I've been really enjoying the DIY aspect of large format and the wet darkroom. With that in mind, attempting salt and/or albumen printing strikes me as the next logical step.
In mixing up the silver nitrate solution, there was a problem. Cutting to the end result, it turned into a pasty liquid, looking somewhat like thin Elmer's glue. I do not have tools to measure pH or specific gravity.
Here's what I did:
1) Dissolve 12 g silver nitrate into 50 ml of distilled water - no apparent trouble
2) Dissolve 6 g citric acid into 50 ml of distilled water - no apparent trouble
3) Pour the citric acid into the silver nitrate and swirl to mix - Immediate milky appearance and thickening!
It is my understanding that it should have stayed clear. All tools and containers were clean before starting, and only the correct chemicals were in the room at the time. (Nothing got inadvertently switched.) Everything was measured carefully. My scale has always been reliable.
I fully expect the suggestion that something wasn't as clean as I had thought. That's plausible and supported by the evidence but since I believed it was all clean and well-rinsed, I wouldn't know what to suspect as a contaminant.
So the questions are:
- Any ideas what might have gone wrong? If I try again, I'd prefer success.
- Might there be a way to rescue the solution? AgNO3 is expensive...
- Or maybe just ignore it and it'll be fine? I have doubts but if the experts agree...?
I have tried searching the forum but haven't found an answer yet. Thanks for all the answers on other topics that I have found!
- Anthony
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