Silver Chloride Results

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Joined
Jan 5, 2019
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Hello All! Longtime lurker first time poster here..Thank you all for the infor that has gotten me this far! So I recovered silver from nitric using salt, and then refined the AgCl using NaOH and Sugar. When I melted the silver I wanted to pour it into water to create shot, but most of it stayed in one large clump, and never melted down into a molten state. I got a few small pellets like I was hoping. The large chunk is melted into one solid chunk, with some orange impurity on it. Is the Orange stuff remaining chloride? If so how can I get rid of it in the future? Is it possible to re melt this chunk and remove the orange impurity? Ive included some pics of what I am talking about, and what I am working with.
 

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Yes it was silver dissolved in a nitric solution, removed with salt. I cut that chunk in half and it is solid silver with no visual signs of impurity. I would still like to know what that orange substance on the outside is..
 
Tell us about your process and source of silver.
Please be specific as possible. Not about the conversion, but about your washing and filtering procedures.
 
The washing and filtering procedures are most likely where the problem is, if I was able to remove all of the chloride..There is not a lot to explain here. I did not filter it. The washing consisted of repeatedly filling a container with water and letting the silver settle before pouring off the water until the water was clear. Now that the silver is dry, can I still re-filter/wash?

I am uploading a few pictures of the chunk I got from melting cut in half. It appears pretty solid, but after about 24 hrs there is white powder formation around the small pits on the cut face. I did not use any flux for this test melt. I placed 3 large spoonfuls in my ceramic crucible and heated to 1800 F. This chunk came out of furnace solid, not molten.

I am confused about smelting and how/what to use as flux. If someone has a good link I would be very grateful!

Thanks in advance for any help!
 

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Good you didn't melt all of it. Take the cemented powder and add a 3 part water to 1 part hcl with enough to just cover the materials. Heat until steaming just below boiling and leave for about 30 minutes. That will remove any iron, copper, zinc, etc. Then wash several times with HOT water. Are you using a Buchner funnel?
Yes most failures with the silver chloride conversion comes from the filtering and washing stages.

Procedure Procedure Procedure!
 
You're not smelting, you're melting (see A Glossary of Common Terms).

Crank up the heat. You were almost, but not quite, there. As you said, "This chunk came out of furnace solid, not molten." The metal should be liquid when it comes out of the furnace.

When melting pure metals, the only flux you should need is a coating of borax on the melting dish or crucible before you add your metal. Silver will absorb a lot of oxygen when molten, and spit it back out when solidifying creating a rough finish. If you can't ensure a reducing environment in your furnace, it can benefit from a bit of charcoal or something similar which will help to react with any excess oxygen.

Dave
 
Thank you for the quick responses!

This is my first attempt at any of this so I knew there would be some learning! No way I was going to attempt to melt it all.

I have not been using a buchner funnel. I know I should get one, just havent been wanting to invest money until I could prove to myself I could get a sellable product. Does the funnel have benefit other than minimizing loss?

Few more questions:

1. Will the HCL wash work on the dry material I have?
Will this remove any traces of Cl in my silver?

Thanks for the glossary of terms!

2. How would the charcoal need to be added to the material needing to be melted? I dont know how familiar you are with pottery, but I used a trash can Raku kiln as my furnace. Pretty sure it is not a reduction environment.

3. I did get a small amount of liquid when I melted this, do you think I most likely pulled it just prior to the bulk of it melting down?
 
Here is a close up of the cut face of the sample I tried to melt. There is white powder forming on the face over time. Any idea what this is?
 

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