Precious Metal `Clay`

[YT2095]

I was watching QVC (purely by accident) and saw an interesting material for sale on there, interesting enough to make me sit for the whole hour and pay attention!

 

it`s a white/grey type compound that resembles Clay, it`s kept in a light proof plasticised foil bag.

when you shape this clay you leave it to dry, or spend 5 mins with a hair dryer.

then you put a small heatsheild ring around it and blow torch it on a ceramic (heatproof) tile.

there will be little silver bits that start to form when the flame is on it, there is 10% shrinkage.

and the resulting item is 99.999% (yes THREE 9`s) pure silver!

 

I`m wondering if it`s Silver Chloride in a solvent?

 

any ideas?

[5614]

sounds very interesting, never heard of it, but obviously there is some kind of chemical reaction involving heat,

 

possibly you said it needs to be kept in a light proof plasticised foil bag, so maybe there is something in the bad, eg. gas, or maybe just a lack of oxygen [if its used in a reaction and theres a limit to it, it would soon run out]

 

but honestly i can do no more than guess, ive never heard of it, but if it was pure silver, there must be a massive market for it... unless... the material itself costs more than silver, in which case its useless!

 

if it involves silver chloride, then you would have to have silver in the first place, so unless you duplicated the silver, it would be worthless, or at least, worth the amount you bought it for.

[YT2095]

it works out roughly about £1 UKP per gram (clay weight) so that`s not too bad really.

the only reason I thought silver chloride was because of the color, it`s the only Silver compound I know of that`s white(ish) and needs to be protected from light.

I figured since it dries so quickly the solvent maybe Acetone or the likes?

 

it seems to make sense to me, but there maybe other things that someone can help me with regards to this, as my idea seems a little too simple to be real?

[5614]

it works out roughly about £1 UKP per gram (clay weight) so that`s not too bad really.

the only reason I thought silver chloride was because of the color' date=' it`s the only Silver compound I know of that`s white(ish) and needs to be protected from light.

I figured since it dries so quickly the solvent maybe Acetone or the likes?

 

it seems to make sense to me, but there maybe other things that someone can help me with regards to this, as my idea seems a little too simple to be real?[/quote']

 

agreed, sounds far too simple, its cheap way to make a lot of money and no one has heard of it, or at least it isnt world wide famous yet,

 

this is interesting if anyone has heard of it... i'd like to know more too,

 

seems a little too simple to be real?

[YT2095]

the money is in selling it afterwards as a complete peice of jewelery, as pure silver scrap value you wouldn`t make a penny

 

I have a few Ounces of conc Silver Nitrate here, I`m tempted to try making Silver Chloride and see what happens, but I`de like to know if I`m wasting my time or not 1`st, maybe by something obvious that I may have overlooked

[5614]

yeah the monet comes from the completed jewlery, but you could sell it to a jewler maker person [dunno what theyre called] and they could make scrap pure silver into something worth a lot of money,

 

im really not sure about silver nitrate --> silver chloride, firstly im asuming you have chorine to replace the nitrate? also what can you with it, the thermal reaction you mentioned at first which you saw on the tv, also remeber as you said silver choride needs to be protected from the light

[YT2095]

that part`s easy

 

add house salt to to the nitrate, it makes silver Chloride and sodium nitrate, then you just let it settle as it`s insoluble and keep washing it until pure

in actualy fact the Chlorine they put in the water will send the silver nitrate cloudy, that`s how chlorination is tested

 

I got my silver nitrate from scrap silver too, I just added the broken silver jewelery to nitric acid and let it all dissolve.

then I add copper metal to it, to displace the silver, leaving pure silver metal and copper nitrate.

pour the soluble copper nitrate away and keep washing the silver in distilled water.

then redissolve it in nitric acid. adding a litte excess silver at the end to make sure there`s no free acid left during storage.

that`s then kept in a brown bottle wrapped in tinfoil and tabed up so that no light can get in

[5614]

whoa, someone passed their chemistry with A*!

nah, if you say its that simple then fine, you may as well try it, and if you cant get some more silver nitrate esaily then why not try it?

post you results on this thread, it'd be interesting

[YT2095]

making silver chloride is simple, but when dry and mixed with Acetone for example, would it be Clay like? was there some other binder in there?

 

these are a few things I`m wondering about

 

oh and yeah, I got 100% on my chem final, me and this other girl, and yes me and her DID celebrate in the pub after! )

[5614]

100% well done, celebrate again on me!

nah

back to the topic at hand!!! [2 formal]

yeah, i dunno about this caly stuff, they didnt tell you what it was made up of, so im not sure, i suppose the only way to know is to experiment, and if it isnt too expensive, may as well try,

thats how all famous people discover things, by experimenting, try it...

and tell me what happens!

[YT2095]

Hmmmm... I don`t whether to w8 for a more informed answer or just go for it and try anyway?

 

 

I guess I`m not doing anything in particular at the moment, and I know I can re-claim the silver again if it fails.

 

OK, done deal, you and my current bordom have conviced me, I`ll get the AgCl on the go

[5614]

good luck, ill check this thread soon, post your replies, how long will it take?

[YT2095]

well I`ve just made the Silver Chloride and washed it 3 times, it`s in the 4`th wash to soak for half hour

 

there`s roughly just over a gram and a half made. the hard part will be drying it without heat or light exposure (it`s the same stuff used in early photgraphic plates) and so will go black with either.

 

this bit is that part that will take the most time! but be sure, I`ll keep you informed

[5614]

have fun waiting, thats always the worst bit... try leaving it to drip dry in a cool dark room, maybe you should have done this in that autumn, not a summer heat wave!

 

whats the test for pure silver once this is done, how will you know if its worked?

[budullewraagh]

hmm...you think that clay is really AgCl?

i'm not so sure since the decomposition reaction would yield Cl2, which isn't pleasant.

 

good luck with your experiment

[YT2095]

I`ll put it in the dessicator for a few days in dark room, that should do the trick

as for the Cl, well that`s the part I`m uncertain about, as in non of my books does it give a decomposition temp? only the melting and boiling point???

 

that`s why I started this thread, fact is NO, I`m NOT certain it`s AgCl, but the clay color was more or less that same color, and I know of no other Silver compound that is the same or even close to it?

[5614]

i dont know of any other silver compound like you described either,

 

a few days in a dessicator, ohh i cant wait

[aommaster]

Very interesting stuff. I haven't heard of it too. Very interested in knowing what you found out. Post as soon as you get it!

[YT2095]

of this you may be certain!

 

I still invite others to comment while this stuff is drying though, I need to know if Acetone or Ethanol will be sufficient when mixed with the AgCl to form a mouldable clay like substance, and what if any other reatants need to be added that will entirely vanish upon heating?

 

Cheerz

[Lance]

Do you remember a brand name or anything?

[YT2095]

sorry, no I don`t, it was a QVC exclusive

[YT2095]

ok. I think I goofed

take a look here: http://www.silversmithing.com/1clay.htm

 

it`s not silver cloride at all, it`s pure silver and a binder, it`s the binder that gives it white color DOH! (though I`ve still yet to find out what it is)?

 

looks like I`ll be converting my silver chloride back into silver again! it`s a good thing I have a 1.5KW UV lamp in storge!

 

damn my socks for getting it wrong, maybe it really WAS very simple from the start?

[aommaster]

Well, don't worry Yt. It happens to me alos. I think too complex, especially in maths. I mess up completely, then to find out that the solution was very simple

[YT2095]

yeah but the only prob now is that while heating it to dry it, some shot out of the test tube right across the room and landed squarely all over my wife and her new blouse. how do I tell her to stay out of the sun now or she`ll turn BLACK and so will her new top!??????????

[aommaster]

Ummmm... tell her this:

"Stay out of the sun or you'll turn black as well as your top!

 

Seriously, just tell her that you were experimenting with some stuff (whoch you usually always do! So she'll understand) and tell her this stuff came!

 

By the way, didn't she know it came all over her?