Separation of silver present in the X-ray films for use in the manufacture of jewelry

Abstract

This work aimed to study the efficiency of recycling the silver present in X-ray films for the development of alloys that can be used to make jewelry. For the recovery of metallic silver we used the chemical precipitation method which was used solution of NaClO and water in different ratios (Method 1 and 2) and NaOH and water (Method 3). The metal silver obtained from the three methods was analyzed by X-ray diffraction. The purity of the metal obtained was 94% that can be used in making alloys for jewelry. Furthermore, it was found that the method 3 is more economical than the methods 1 and 2. The choice of alloy's elements took into account the physical and mechanical properties for the manufacture of a ring. The alloys developed in this work were AgCuZn and AgZnAl.