# Growing silver crystals



## chrisjc (Nov 22, 2012)

HI,

Sorry to jump in with questions but i've been trawling for ages and not found what im looking for!!!

I want to grow some beautiful silver crystals and experiment with varying electrolysis speeds and different electrode geometries, etc.

My plan is to make silver cement from sterling in HNO3 solution using copper then play around with various silver cell configurations. It would be good to get the crystals as pure as possible with a DIY job - like better than .999 if possible.

Please any tips would be really useful because i am unsure of the correct operation of the silver cell. I believe the electrolyte in the cell should start with about 20g Au / l but as the crystals start growing copper will build up in the electrolyte, which should not exceed 60g Cu / l in order to maintain purity of the crystals.

1) is it best to make your own silver nitrate using fine silver and what concentration HNO3 is best for electrolyte?

2) How do you monitor the concentration of copper in the solution to prevent contamination of crystals and what is the maximum concentration for good pure crystals?

3) Once the level of copper is too great I guess the remaining silver can be displaced from the electrolyte, but can the electrolyte be recycled or must it be thrown away? 

4) Wont the crystals also pick up an lead, tin, iron etc since they are also more active than silver? 

Sorry for the barrage of questions on a first post, but any pointers would be most appreciated!


----------



## Palladium (Nov 22, 2012)

http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/search.php?keywords=silver+cell&terms=all&author=&sv=0&sc=1&sf=all&sr=posts&sk=t&sd=d&st=0&ch=300&t=0&submit=Search


----------



## MysticColby (Nov 25, 2012)

1) I use 100g silver in 1 L beaker
2) best to use already-refined silver in the electrolyte, so it's colorless clear. I change to fresh electrolyte when it gets darker blue (not just a hint of blue). To start, I used cemented silver, but changed it quicker than when refined silver was used.
3) I put the old electrolyte into another beaker, add copper bar, collect cemented silver
4) I am under the impression silver is the first to crystalize out and if the anode is properly contained with a filter the silver crystal will be 99.9+% pure.


----------



## kadriver (Nov 27, 2012)

Here is a picture of some nice pure silver crystals I grew recently.

To see the cells that produced these crystal look here:

http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=16132

I used 110 grams of pure silver per liter. I used pure silver crystals from a previous cell operation.

I have used cement silver to get started.

Once I tried to purify my cement silver by boiling in HCl, it casued a problem.

You can see it here, and the solution I was given by Harold to solve the problem:

http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=8589

kadriver



kadriver


----------



## pinman (Nov 27, 2012)

I would love to see some close up shots of those crystals. Any chance of that happening?


----------



## kadriver (Nov 27, 2012)

You can click on the picture in the post to enlarge it.

If that don't work, then let me know and I'll shoot some close-ups.


----------



## RoboSteveo (Nov 28, 2012)

Those crystals are a thing of beauty. Great job!


----------



## pinman (Nov 28, 2012)

Ah. They are quite beautiful. Amazing work.


----------

