Silver plated bits dissolving in Rooto

2 years ago
39

Here I show a small test of dissolving silver-plated electronics pieces with Rooto sulfuric acid-based drain cleaner. I include some of the important points to consider when using this method to dissolve metals. Keep the volume low in the beaker, have as much ventilation as possible, avoid the fumes when it begins to bubble, and don't overheat it. The reaction starts at 80C (176F), and there's no need to heat it much above that. Use ONLY glassware made for high temperatures. Oven-safe glass will withstand it, though I have plenty of formal Pyrex lab glassware. I'm testing how well sulfuric works with these plated bits, since nitric is double the price or sulfuric, and hydrochloric can cause loss of some silver as silver chloride stuck in the bottom gunk of the initial reaction vessel. It would be far more economical to process silver plated components with sulfuric. Alternatively, I can melt the plated bits into a bar and use a copper sulfate electrolysis cell to remove the copper and other metals (silver and palladium will form 'slimes' under the anode)... but it'll be a while before I can make a place to set that apparatus up!

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