How to Make Silver Nitrate

Preparing a Safe Workspace

Wear proper protective equipment. The chemicals necessary for this process are highly toxic and can lead to injury if not handled properly. Eye protection, gloves, and a lab coat are necessary to remain safe. Long pants and closed-toe shoes, preferably without mesh, should be worn to protect against floor spills. Eye protection should completely cover your eyes and the sides of your eyes to protect from splashes. Latex or nitrile gloves should be worn to protect your hands. Wear a lab coat or a second layer of clothing that can easily be removed if you spill any solutions on yourself. Instead of wearing contact lenses, put glasses on underneath your eye protection. This will prevent chemical fumes from getting trapped underneath your contacts.

Work in a well-ventilated room. When making silver nitrate, the gases released are extremely toxic and can be deadly if inhaled directly. It's best to work in a chemical fume hood, but if you don't have access to a fume hood, work outside in a well-ventilated area. If working in your garage, open the door and all windows. Turn on some fans as well to make sure the air circulates. Never bend over the reaction and inhale the fumes.

Tell someone about your experiment. It's always good to let someone know that you will be doing something potentially dangerous before beginning. Your friend can check on you to make sure you're okay and, in case something goes wrong, your friend will know what you were working with and can relay the information to medical personnel.

Making Silver Nitrate

Gather the necessary materials. To make silver nitrate you will need a fume hood or outdoor workspace, concentrated nitric acid (70%), a clean glass container, a piece of pure silver, aluminum wire, and a hot plate. The size of the glass container and the amount of nitric acid and silver needed is dependent upon how much silver nitrate you are trying to make. The fumes released during this process are extremely toxic, so a properly ventilated workspace is essential. Nitric acid has to be purchased from a chemical lab supply store. If you have to dilute the nitric acid, always add ACID to WATER while gently stirring, never the other way around. Adding water to acid can lead to explosions and injury. Pure silver can be purchased online, at a precious metals dealer, or a local coin shop or show.

Fill a clean glass container with concentrated nitric acid. The glass container needs to be clean so the silver nitrate will be free of impurities. Add enough of the nitric acid so that the piece of silver you have will be almost completely submerged. Carefully pour the nitric acid into the container, taking care not to spill anything. Always wear protective gloves, eyewear, and a lab coat when handling nitric acid.

Wrap the aluminum wire around the silver. Aluminum will not react with the nitric acid and will allow you to have a little more control over the reaction. Wrap the aluminum around the silver and leave enough of a tail so you can easily remove the silver from the solution if it starts to boil too much.

Place the piece of aluminum-wrapped silver in the nitric acid. Before placing the silver in the nitric acid, make sure you are outside or working in a fume hood. Once everything has been prepared, simply submerge the silver in the nitric acid. At this point, you should see a few bubbles as the reaction begins.

Heat the acid until the silver starts to bubble. Again, this reaction will create toxic gases, so please do not perform this indoors. Do not lean over the solution and breathe in the gases. Work in a properly ventilated fume hood, outside, or wear a gas mask. Place the container on the hot plate and heat the solution until you see the silver really start to bubble. The solution will turn opaque during this process and you will not be able to see everything that is happening. Turn the heat down as the reaction continues to avoid letting the solution boil over.

Wait until the silver completely dissolves. This process can take a few hours depending on how large your piece of silver is. You might also need to add more heat to keep the reaction going. Keep an eye on the container as it continues. You can use the aluminum wire to lift the silver piece out of the solution and check the progress of the silver as it dissolves. When the silver fully dissolve, remove the container from the heat.

Let the solution stand until it completely evaporates. The final step requires patience because it will take a few days. As the solution cools, the silver nitrate will precipitate out of the solution and you will be able to see it at the bottom of the container. After a few days, the remaining solution will evaporate and you will be left with the silver nitrate crystals. The crystals formed are pure silver nitrate and should be stored in an air-tight container away from light.