Author Topic: Ionic Silver Color Change Questions  (Read 3959 times)

Ringo

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Ionic Silver Color Change Questions
« on: April 30, 2013, 06:36:23 PM »
Is it normal for ionic silver to change color overnight?  I made a batch of ionic silver which was clear.  After sitting in a dark cupboard overnight, it appears to be about the same clear yellow color of a batch of 20ppm colloidal silver I had made using sodium carbonate, corn syrup, and heat.  I understand this change of color to mean that the ionic silver converted to larger silver nanoparticles. 

For external use, will this change in particle size alter the effectiveness of the ionic silver batch? 

For the purpose of making ionic silver, should I do something different to prevent this change in color from occurring?

Offline mraluma415

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Re: Ionic Silver Color Change Questions
« Reply #1 on: April 30, 2013, 07:00:58 PM »
The only way this could have happened is if the container that you stored it in had left over syrup within it. It may not be as effective topically, but there is no research that clears up that question. Try to make another batch and make sure your container or flask is cleaned well from your previous batches
"The art of healing comes from nature, not from the physician. Therefore the physician must start from nature, with an open mind." - Paracelsus

Ringo

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Re: Ionic Silver Color Change Questions
« Reply #2 on: April 30, 2013, 07:21:32 PM »
mraluma415,

Thank you for your suggestion.  In this case, however, I stored the ionic silver in both a clean, plastic bottle and a clean, glass jar.  The ionic silver in both containers changed to the same clear yellow.  When I made the ionic silver, I did not use any Karo syrup and the beaker I made it in had never been used before (it was the very first batch I had ever made).  I'm quite certain there were no contaminants introduced into the ionic silver.  Any thoughts?

Offline kephra

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Re: Ionic Silver Color Change Questions
« Reply #3 on: April 30, 2013, 07:34:31 PM »
Did you clean your electrodes well before use?
What was in the bottles before you used them for the Colloidal Silver?
There is the unknown and the unknowable.  It's a wise man who knows the difference.

Ringo

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Re: Ionic Silver Color Change Questions
« Reply #4 on: April 30, 2013, 08:34:00 PM »
Kephra,

I did not clean my electrodes before use.  For the anode I used a 1 ounce silver bar which appeared clean except for a little tarnish.  For the cathode I used a solid copper wire of the household wiring variety.  After making a couple of batches I heated the bar of silver over the stove until the black discoloration turned white. 

The plastic storage container I used was a thoroughly washed milk jug, and the glass jar was a thoroughly washed baby food jar.  It appears I must have introduced a contaminant in some way. 

Is there a particular method for washing storage containers other than using dish soap and hot water that should be used?

I'll follow mraluma415's advice and make another batch to see what happens (but I won't remove it from the flask until I find out about washing the storage containers).

Ringo

Offline kephra

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Re: Ionic Silver Color Change Questions
« Reply #5 on: April 30, 2013, 09:00:15 PM »
Plastic milk bottles may contain milk sugars adsorbed into the plastic itself which may have caused that bottle to reduce.  I don't know about the baby food jar, but others have had their ionic spontaneously reduce.  Personally, I don't use ionic silver for anything, so I never store it.  I am starting to believe that it happens most frequently when the ppm of the ionic is close to or slightly above its solubility limit, and the tiny crystals of silver oxide become seeds for the rest of the ionic to plate onto.  But thats just a hunch at the moment. 
There is the unknown and the unknowable.  It's a wise man who knows the difference.

Ringo

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Re: Ionic Silver Color Change Questions
« Reply #6 on: April 30, 2013, 09:52:20 PM »
Kephra,

That's fascinating.  I made the ionic silver at 20ppm, so your hunch could certainly apply in this case.  I assume then that it would be prudent to make future batches of ionic silver at less than 20ppm?  Conversely, could a finished batch of 20ppm ionic silver be diluted with additional distilled water to prevent this from occurring again?

If I were to add corn syrup and heat to the ionic silver I've already made (that is now clear yellow), should it then be fully reduced as with the uncapped, sugar reduced metallic silver that is made with internal consumption in mind?

I now have an empty distilled water jug that I expect should be safe for ionic silver storage.  To eliminate a variable, I'll discard my milk jug.

Ringo

kscmac

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Re: Ionic Silver Color Change Questions
« Reply #7 on: April 30, 2013, 10:19:04 PM »
When I use Sodium Hydroxide (NaOh) as the electrolyte I seem to get the reduction from ionic to colloidal more often than when I use Sodium Carbonate (Na2CO3). When I use the sodium carbonate and store the IS I don't get the reduction. I don't know if its the glass I use (beakers made from borosilicate glass) and stored in clean glass jars.

Offline kephra

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Re: Ionic Silver Color Change Questions
« Reply #8 on: April 30, 2013, 10:19:42 PM »
Kephra,

That's fascinating.  I made the ionic silver at 20ppm, so your hunch could certainly apply in this case.  I assume then that it would be prudent to make future batches of ionic silver at less than 20ppm?  Conversely, could a finished batch of 20ppm ionic silver be diluted with additional distilled water to prevent this from occurring again?
That would be worth a try.  Perhaps adding 20% more distilled water would be a good experiment.
Quote
If I were to add corn syrup and heat to the ionic silver I've already made (that is now clear yellow), should it then be fully reduced as with the uncapped, sugar reduced metallic silver that is made with internal consumption in mind?
Yes, it would be the same.
Quote
I now have an empty distilled water jug that I expect should be safe for ionic silver storage.  To eliminate a variable, I'll discard my milk jug.

Ringo
Very good.
There is the unknown and the unknowable.  It's a wise man who knows the difference.

Ringo

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Re: Ionic Silver Color Change Questions
« Reply #9 on: May 01, 2013, 06:16:08 PM »
Update:

I made another batch of 20 ppm ionic silver and divided it into two containers.  The first container was a canning jar that unbeknownst to me had a layer of dust particles inside the jar.  I realized this when I poured the ionic silver into the jar and saw tiny specks of particulate matter swirling in the ionic silver solution.  I diluted the ionic silver I put in the canning jar 20% with distilled water.  The remainder of the batch I poured full strength into an empty distilled water jug.  I put both containers into a dark cupboard overnight, and this morning I checked them.  The ionic silver in the distilled water jug is still clear and colorless.  The ionic silver in the canning jar is now clear and yellow. 

Kephra, it appears to me that your hunch was exactly right.  The dust particles were probably acting as a sort of condensation nuclei (so to speak) for the silver atoms to adhere to.  Thank you for your help with this.

Offline Gene

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Re: Ionic Silver Color Change Questions
« Reply #10 on: May 02, 2013, 04:39:34 AM »
It is always a good practice before you use a container to wash it thorougly regardless what it had in it before you'd care to use it and then to rinse thorougly, shake out as much water as you can and rinse twice more dumping in a couple ounces of clean distilled water, capping, shaking, pouring out to remove all traces of the tap water contamination.

You'd be horrified to know all the nasty stuff thats in dust in the air these days.

Yeah, you waste a little distilled water but not knowing what you're ingesting is a lot more scary than wasting a few cents making sure you have a clean container to start with.

I'd suggest buying a 12 pack of new pint or quart mason jars.  That shouldn't set you back more than $10 and now you have a dozen wonderful jars to store your colloidal silver and/or Ionic Silver in with no question of their quality or what they might be contaminated in (you STILL need to wasn/clean them as stated above - that goes for everything you use).