Silver dissolves back

[Vesilemb]

I am newbie

But yea, I did a mistake and added too much nitric.
After inserting copper wire into solution silver started actively form on copper and things looked rosy. After I returned next day, there was just a clear blue solution, no silver. Copper wire looked thinner. So I assume there was not enough nitric acid in the solution for reaction with copper, but silver was also not forming on copper.
What is the phenomena? Low acidicity? And how can I return my silver?

Thnx!

PS! I Have increased the solution tempeture to 70 degrees celsius, and some very little silver crystals have appeared on copper. Only very slowly

 

[BGDOCK]

Did you dilute the silver nitrate w/ DI water ?
Next time put silver in the solution to insure that you have used up all the free nitric acid

 

[FrugalRefiner]

You've already identified the mistake. You added too much nitric. When you put the copper wire in, the silver started to cement on it. But then, the excess nitric redissolved it. The dark blue is because of the copper that dissolved.

As BGDOCK said, the best remedy is to dissolve more silver until the nitric is used up. If you don't have any more silver, just keep adding copper until the nitric is consumed and you'll see your silver again.

You also don't want any of the copper extending out of the solution. The part outside the solution will oxidize and flake off into the beaker, contaminating your silver cement.

See When In Doubt, Cement It Out.

Try to keep the bugs (and all other living things) out of your solutions.

Dave

 

[BGDOCK]

1.) Did you dilute the silver nitrate w/ DI water

Good catch on that copper sticking out !

 

[Vesilemb]

Rising temperature did not help. It appears that copper wire got protective coating of silver and nitric acid stopped to react. But as I inserted new clean copper wire reactio started immediately.

 

[Vesilemb]

Isn't there any other way to get rid of nitric acid? Like adding KCO3 to form KNO3 and CO2?

 

[BGDOCK]

How much nitric did you add that’s quite a reaction .

 

[Vesilemb]

How much nitric did you add that’s quite a reaction .

Reaction is due to high temperature. It is near boiling

 

[Shark]

Might try a small bit of sulfamic if the nitric isn’t overly large.

 

[Vesilemb]

Now I have rather interesting problem. It appears that copper wire was actually fake copper wire. It was just coated with copper and below it had soft iron core. So no alarms in my mind went off. I did not test with magnet either. So dumb!
There is now interesting layers of silver, copper and rust on top each other in iron nitrate sauce.

Has any of you stumbled on fake copper and how did you saved your silver?

 

[Shark]

Put the silver back into solution. Filter the iron out and drop it again with clean copper. Iron is a beast to filter so exercise patience with it.

 

[galenrog]

Back in the stone ages, when practical magic was prevalent in the world, grounding rods and heavy grounding wire for field equipment, such as generators, radars, communications stations, and a whole lot of other toys, used copper plated steel.

Yes, we did cook chickens by putting them on a wood pike in front of 70s era microwave stations. Not well cooked, but it freaked out the grunts and the new butterbars.

Time for more coffee.