How to Recover Silver From Silver-Plated Scrap

It is possible to recover silver from silver-plated items, but it is a dangerous process best done by professionals. There are several reason for recovering silver, such as using it to plate something else or replate the original item with new silver. If you have enough scrap silver, you might even be able to sell it, or make some jewelry.

Things You'll Need

• Sulphuric acid
• Nitric acid
• Water
• Sawdust
• Copper wire
• Distilled water
• Buchner funnel
• Vacuum filtration flask
• Vent hood

Instructions

1. Mix a solution of 3/4 sulfuric acid and 1/4 nitric acid and heat it up to 176 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Attach the copper wire to the object and dip it into the solution for a few seconds to remove the silver.

3. Rinse the object off and rub in sawdust to dry.

4. Turn off the heat to the acid and allow it to cool.

5. Add distilled water to the acid to neutralize it. Pour in three times as much water as there is acid solution.

6. Pour liquid through a Buchner funnel into a vacuum filtration flask and save the filtered substance.

7. Heat remnants on a hot plate until crystals start to form.

8. Dispose of the leftover water.

9. Repeat the process by placing the silver back into a pure nitric acid solution if you want to purify the silver even further.

Tips & Warnings

• This should only be done by a professional. It is highly dangerous and mistakes will kill. At the very least, get the help of someone with knowledge of chemistry like a teacher with access to a lab, or at best send the silver plate off to a scrap metal processor capable of removing the metal. Of course, in the latter case, you won't be able to recover the silver.

References

• Silver and Silver Nitrate
• Plating Of Metal Surfaces: Silvering, Silver-Plating, And Desilvering