Scrap Aluminium Components
Challenge
To recycle Silver off aluminum substrates without electrochemical purification and the use of expensive furnaces.
Deposition
Silver
Substrate
Aluminum
Results
We combined a widely used technology for etching silver with a new novel process for acquiring silver in metallic form. It does not require electrochemical purification and it does not require expensive furnaces to melt the metal powder into metallic silver.
Our client, a scrap house and recycler (company buying and selling tons of different scrap), asked us to come up with a concept of etching silver from aluminum in order to recycle the silver.
They were forced to sell the aluminum scrap parts that had a silver layer on it, at the same price as aluminum scrap because they did not have a technology in-house or in the general market that could separate the two metals.
We were given the task to develop a straightforward technology that could be done at a facility that was not fully equipped and at a modest budget.
First, understand that silver at 99.9% purity, which is obtained from precious metal refineries, is usually obtained by (1) smelting silver chloride with carbonates in a furnace, followed by (2) electrochemical purification of the crude silver.
We were aiming for a technology that would:
• Dissolve the silver, leaving the aluminum intact, either for re-use, recycle or to sell;
• Make the chemical compound of silver in a suitable form that could be used in some way(see next point);
• Avoid using furnaces and the electrochemical purification of silver;
• Be inexpensive, being cognizant of the current market of silver;
• Develop a robust and simple process that could be scaled-up, done in simple and remote conditions, and by inexperienced labor.
We used a standard technology for etching silver and used our new novel patent pending technology for the next step, so that we could avoid the smelting of silver chloride and the electrochemical purification of crude silver (see in the text above).
We solved this need, as our client was satisfied, without relying on neither the need to invest and run a silver furnace, nor the need to invest and run electrochemical equipment processes.