Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Solvent for metals

veerenyadav - 27-5-2017 at 02:54

Which solvent can be most effective for metals ?

I tried to leach solid dust of metals with Fe, Mn, Si, Al, etc . But I could not leach out these effectively.

j_sum1 - 27-5-2017 at 03:47

Acids "dissolve" metals in the sense that they react with them and oxidise them to ionic species.
Strong alkaline solutions also work similarly for amphoteric metals (eg, Al, Zn).

But for dissolving in the sense that I think you mean, you need a liquid metal. Both mercury and hot lead are used in some applications.

It would help if you explained what it is you were trying to do.

unionised - 28-5-2017 at 02:43

Are you trying to extract the metals for analysis?

Elemental Phosphorus - 28-5-2017 at 05:44

Depending on the metal, some chemicals form a complex with metals like cyanide and gold, which could be used to leach them. As jsum said, other metals can amalgamate some things. If you would tell us what metal you are trying to leach, it would be a lot easier to give help.

veerenyadav - 3-6-2017 at 05:06

I have impure metal powder and want to leach pure metal but leaching is too slow using combentional acids. So searching alternatives ? Suggest any ?

Elemental Phosphorus - 4-6-2017 at 09:59

It depends what metals the powder contains. What metal is it that you want to leach? If it is gold I would recommend cyanide or thiosulfate, but if it is a more easily dissolved metal, try dissolving in concentrated nitric acid if you have not already.

symboom - 4-6-2017 at 15:43

This dissolving metal majes me tgink of recoverable metal desolved such as sodium in mercury or lead. Aluminium desolved in gallium