What is the black slag formed when sterling silver is melted with borax?
What is the black graphite looking slag that is formed when sterling silver is melted with borax? Is there a way to remove it from the surface of the sterling silver? It appears to be indestructible!
metal metallurgy
asked 4 hours ago
James William Kincaid III
111
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What is the black graphite looking slag that is formed when sterling silver is melted with borax? Is there a way to remove it from the surface of the sterling silver? It appears to be indestructible!
metal metallurgy
asked 4 hours ago
James William Kincaid III
111
New contributor
James William Kincaid III is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
1
A photo could be useful, but in general I think there is not much you can do. Borax is a great flux and is most likely reacted with copper (and other metals) from Sterling alloy.
– andselisk
4 hours ago
add a comment |
What is the black graphite looking slag that is formed when sterling silver is melted with borax? Is there a way to remove it from the surface of the sterling silver? It appears to be indestructible!
metal metallurgy
asked 4 hours ago
James William Kincaid III
111
New contributor
James William Kincaid III is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
What is the black graphite looking slag that is formed when sterling silver is melted with borax? Is there a way to remove it from the surface of the sterling silver? It appears to be indestructible!
metal metallurgy
metal metallurgy
asked 4 hours ago
James William Kincaid III
111
New contributor
James William Kincaid III is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 4 hours ago
James William Kincaid III
111
New contributor
James William Kincaid III is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 4 hours ago
James William Kincaid III
111
New contributor
James William Kincaid III is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 4 hours ago
James William Kincaid III
111
asked 4 hours ago
James William Kincaid III
111
111
New contributor
James William Kincaid III is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
James William Kincaid III is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
James William Kincaid III is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
1
A photo could be useful, but in general I think there is not much you can do. Borax is a great flux and is most likely reacted with copper (and other metals) from Sterling alloy.
– andselisk
4 hours ago
add a comment |
1
A photo could be useful, but in general I think there is not much you can do. Borax is a great flux and is most likely reacted with copper (and other metals) from Sterling alloy.
– andselisk
4 hours ago
1
1
A photo could be useful, but in general I think there is not much you can do. Borax is a great flux and is most likely reacted with copper (and other metals) from Sterling alloy.
– andselisk
4 hours ago
A photo could be useful, but in general I think there is not much you can do. Borax is a great flux and is most likely reacted with copper (and other metals) from Sterling alloy.
– andselisk
4 hours ago
add a comment |
1 Answer
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"Indestructible" by what means exactly? How did you try to "destroy" it? Provided that sterling alloy is an alloy of silver and copper, the first guess is that your slag is primarily a copper (II) oxide. Depending on the actual composition of the alloy, it may contain other 3d-metal oxides. The formation of borates (not of silver, but of less noble metals) cannot be excluded, for borax is frequently used as a constituent of the high-temperature fluxes for spectroscopic and calorimetric applications. To what extent the borates are formed depends on the temperature and duration of your melting experiment.
You should be able to dissolve your slug in a boiling mineral acid of your choice. Personally, I'd try the $ce{HCl}$ solution, or $ce{HNO3}$ if you do not care that silver dissolves as well.
The following may be irrelevant to the question asked, but, based on my experience and some textbooks, people first try to purify silver and then melt the pure metal, not the other way around. The methods of purification are aplenty, but most of them are based on dissolving the silver-containing alloy in $ce{HNO3}$. Then $ce{AgNO3}$ can be transformed into $ce{AgCl}$, which, in turn, can be reduced by metallic zinc in acidic environment or formaldehyde - in basic.
answered 1 hour ago
voffch
591
add a comment |
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"Indestructible" by what means exactly? How did you try to "destroy" it? Provided that sterling alloy is an alloy of silver and copper, the first guess is that your slag is primarily a copper (II) oxide. Depending on the actual composition of the alloy, it may contain other 3d-metal oxides. The formation of borates (not of silver, but of less noble metals) cannot be excluded, for borax is frequently used as a constituent of the high-temperature fluxes for spectroscopic and calorimetric applications. To what extent the borates are formed depends on the temperature and duration of your melting experiment.
You should be able to dissolve your slug in a boiling mineral acid of your choice. Personally, I'd try the $ce{HCl}$ solution, or $ce{HNO3}$ if you do not care that silver dissolves as well.
The following may be irrelevant to the question asked, but, based on my experience and some textbooks, people first try to purify silver and then melt the pure metal, not the other way around. The methods of purification are aplenty, but most of them are based on dissolving the silver-containing alloy in $ce{HNO3}$. Then $ce{AgNO3}$ can be transformed into $ce{AgCl}$, which, in turn, can be reduced by metallic zinc in acidic environment or formaldehyde - in basic.
answered 1 hour ago
voffch
591
add a comment |
"Indestructible" by what means exactly? How did you try to "destroy" it? Provided that sterling alloy is an alloy of silver and copper, the first guess is that your slag is primarily a copper (II) oxide. Depending on the actual composition of the alloy, it may contain other 3d-metal oxides. The formation of borates (not of silver, but of less noble metals) cannot be excluded, for borax is frequently used as a constituent of the high-temperature fluxes for spectroscopic and calorimetric applications. To what extent the borates are formed depends on the temperature and duration of your melting experiment.
You should be able to dissolve your slug in a boiling mineral acid of your choice. Personally, I'd try the $ce{HCl}$ solution, or $ce{HNO3}$ if you do not care that silver dissolves as well.
The following may be irrelevant to the question asked, but, based on my experience and some textbooks, people first try to purify silver and then melt the pure metal, not the other way around. The methods of purification are aplenty, but most of them are based on dissolving the silver-containing alloy in $ce{HNO3}$. Then $ce{AgNO3}$ can be transformed into $ce{AgCl}$, which, in turn, can be reduced by metallic zinc in acidic environment or formaldehyde - in basic.
answered 1 hour ago
voffch
591
add a comment |
"Indestructible" by what means exactly? How did you try to "destroy" it? Provided that sterling alloy is an alloy of silver and copper, the first guess is that your slag is primarily a copper (II) oxide. Depending on the actual composition of the alloy, it may contain other 3d-metal oxides. The formation of borates (not of silver, but of less noble metals) cannot be excluded, for borax is frequently used as a constituent of the high-temperature fluxes for spectroscopic and calorimetric applications. To what extent the borates are formed depends on the temperature and duration of your melting experiment.
You should be able to dissolve your slug in a boiling mineral acid of your choice. Personally, I'd try the $ce{HCl}$ solution, or $ce{HNO3}$ if you do not care that silver dissolves as well.
The following may be irrelevant to the question asked, but, based on my experience and some textbooks, people first try to purify silver and then melt the pure metal, not the other way around. The methods of purification are aplenty, but most of them are based on dissolving the silver-containing alloy in $ce{HNO3}$. Then $ce{AgNO3}$ can be transformed into $ce{AgCl}$, which, in turn, can be reduced by metallic zinc in acidic environment or formaldehyde - in basic.
answered 1 hour ago
voffch
591
"Indestructible" by what means exactly? How did you try to "destroy" it? Provided that sterling alloy is an alloy of silver and copper, the first guess is that your slag is primarily a copper (II) oxide. Depending on the actual composition of the alloy, it may contain other 3d-metal oxides. The formation of borates (not of silver, but of less noble metals) cannot be excluded, for borax is frequently used as a constituent of the high-temperature fluxes for spectroscopic and calorimetric applications. To what extent the borates are formed depends on the temperature and duration of your melting experiment.
You should be able to dissolve your slug in a boiling mineral acid of your choice. Personally, I'd try the $ce{HCl}$ solution, or $ce{HNO3}$ if you do not care that silver dissolves as well.
The following may be irrelevant to the question asked, but, based on my experience and some textbooks, people first try to purify silver and then melt the pure metal, not the other way around. The methods of purification are aplenty, but most of them are based on dissolving the silver-containing alloy in $ce{HNO3}$. Then $ce{AgNO3}$ can be transformed into $ce{AgCl}$, which, in turn, can be reduced by metallic zinc in acidic environment or formaldehyde - in basic.
answered 1 hour ago
voffch
591
answered 1 hour ago
voffch
591
answered 1 hour ago
voffch
591
answered 1 hour ago
voffch
591
591
add a comment |
add a comment |
James William Kincaid III is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
James William Kincaid III is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
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A photo could be useful, but in general I think there is not much you can do. Borax is a great flux and is most likely reacted with copper (and other metals) from Sterling alloy.
– andselisk
4 hours ago