Gold, silver and other precious metals are contained in small quantities in radio components, usually of the Soviet period. There are some methods for removing metals from such parts that you can safely use at home.
Instructions
Step 1
When extracting gold, first clearly find out the amount of precious metal in one or another radio component. The price of the part upon purchase and the amount of reagents will depend on its quantity.
Step 2
To purchase radio parts, advertise in the newspaper, the Internet, indicating that you will buy radio parts, you do not need to specifically mention the names of precious metals, this can create additional trouble for you.
Step 3
Remove gold from copper and brass by anodic dissolution in sulfuric or hydrochloric acid at a temperature of 17 to 25 degrees. The current density should be 0.1-1.0A per square decimeter. Use a cathode - iron or lead. Determine the end of dissolution by the drop in current strength.
Step 4
Another way using acids. Take 1L of sulfuric acid and 0.25L of hydrochloric acid. Heat the mixture to 60 degrees, dip the parts into the mixture and add a small amount of nitric acid. The result is the so-called "aqua regia", which is a recognized solvent for gold.
Step 5
To remove the silver, first remove the aluminum case with pliers, separate the contact part. Then remove the silver contacts with scissors.
Step 6
To remove silver from brass and copper parts, heat a mixture of solutions of nitric and sulfuric acids, taken in a ratio of 1.2 to 19. Bring the temperature to 80 degrees. In the future, you can extract silver from this solution by reducing it with zinc dust or shavings. You can also use acidification of the electrolyte with very small doses of hydrochloric acid. Please note that this operation is quite dangerous, so carry out it only in a special fume hood.
Step 7
Silver will settle in the form of a white curd precipitate - silver chloride. Let it sit for at least a day. Then check for completeness of sedimentation. To do this, add hydrochloric acid to the filtered solution sample. Filter the precipitate through a thick cloth, rinse and dry at a temperature of 105 -120 degrees.
Step 8
To carry out the operation to extract precious metals from radio components, you will need: hydrochloric, sulfuric and nitric acid, zinc dust or shavings, lead, iron, an ammeter, special dishes, scissors, wire cutters, thick cloth, gloves.
