Jack Dini is back again with another highly regarded column of his, which contains eclectic silver metal anecdotes-in addition to Roy Roger's horse , Everything you might want to know. #nasf

Editor's note: The highly regarded AESF/NASF contributor Jack Dini once again provides us with another highly regarded and fascinating work. The printable version of this article can be accessed here.

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There are many uses for silver plating. Until 1970, the main use of silver plating was the decoration and protection of tableware, jewelry and artwork. Industrial and engineering uses subsequently continued to increase. The electrical, mechanical, and electrical properties of silver, including high electrical and thermal conductivity, high load-bearing capacity, chemical resistance, and non-toxic properties, are useful properties for many applications. The continuous expansion of silver plating in engineering applications, especially in the electrical and electronic industries, has led people to pay more and more attention to process and product innovations aimed at improving the physical characteristics, performance and reliability of electroplated parts and meeting specific functional requirements. 1

Silver is the 66th most abundant element. Like gold, silver is malleable and malleable. It can be beaten thin to almost transparent, and one gram of metal can be drawn into a wire nearly two kilometers long. It is stable to water and oxygen, but will slowly be corroded by sulfur compounds in the air, forming a black sulfide layer, which is why silverware needs regular cleaning.

The main exports of silver are the photography, electrical and electronic industries, as well as tableware, jewelry and mirrors in the home. Tableware and trophies are made of alloy sterling silver.   

Pure silver has the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of all metals. It is the best thermal and electrical conductor of all metals, so it is widely used in electrical and electronic equipment.

Other uses of silver are: in dentistry as silver-tin-mercury or silver-tin-copper-amalgam; as an oxide in high-capacity zinc long-life batteries, and occasionally as an iodide used to seed clouds to promote rainfall.

Sterling silver, coins and chloride, Arizona

Pure silver is too soft to be used as jewelry, so it is mixed with 7.5% copper to make pure silver. 

Until 1965, dime, quarter and half dollar coins were made of 90% silver and 10% copper. If you hoard every silver coin you could get in 1964, you will be quite rich. The value of the metal in a quarter is now $3.00.2

Provided by Jpatokal on wts wikivoyage, Wikipedia cc by-SA 4.0

On the old Route 66 in Arizona, there is a small town called Chloride. Not much now, a ghost town abandoned by ghosts. The question is-why would anyone bother naming a town in a remote place in 1860 in order to mine salt? Because the name of the town is not sodium chloride, it is named after silver chloride, and there happened to be a lot of silver chloride underground at that time. 3

Silver in environment, body and food

Crust 70 ppb

Soil ~ 0.5 ppm

Sea water ~ 0.1 ppt at the surface, about 2 ppt at the depth

Atmospheric traces

Except for areas rich in minerals, the silver content in the soil is usually not high, sometimes up to 44 ppm. Plants can absorb silver, and measured levels are between 0.03 and 0.5 ppm. 4

Silver in the human body

Blood 3 ppb

Bone changes between 10 and 40 ppb

Organization varies between 10 and 250 ppb

The total body is about 2 mg

Silver has no biological effects and is actually particularly toxic to lower organisms. Soluble silver salts can irritate the skin and mucous membranes and can cause death if ingested, although excessive hydrochloric acid in the stomach protects the body by precipitating insoluble silver chloride. 4

Food contains a lot of silver. For example, flour contains about 0.3 ppm and bran, which is about three times this level. The content of milk is between 25 and 50 ppb; the content of beef, pork, and lamb is about 40 ppb, and the content of fish is as high as 10 ppm. Therefore, the average amount of silver consumed by humans is 20 to 80 micrograms per day, depending on the food they eat, but such a small amount of intake will not pose a health threat. 4

For most of our history, humans did not pay much attention to cleanliness. Earlier, improper dishwashing promoted the growth of pathogenic bacteria, such as E. coli and Salmonella. Due to the antibacterial effect of metal, silver spoons are not prone to this problem. The rich can afford to buy such tableware and enjoy the health benefits it confers. All of this contributed to the claim that the rich man’s child was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Some Russian farmers still put silver coins in water tanks and kettles to keep the water fresh. 5

The link between silver and health is attributed to the microdynamic effect, which was discovered in 1893 by the Swiss botanist Karl Wilhelm von Nageli. This refers to the toxic effects of metal ions on organisms such as bacteria, algae and fungi. Many other metals also produce antibacterial effects, but the potential benefits must be weighed against the toxicity of the metal. In contrast, silver and copper are two drugs that are less toxic and effective against bacteria. 6

There are several anecdotes that people have known for a long time that silver protects drinking water and can explain why silver coins were found at the bottom of many wells as early as 425 BC. Only a small amount of silver is needed to disinfect water; 10 ppb is sufficient. Silver is still used to disinfect water and even footwear. The swimming pool can be made safe by adding silver salt to the water instead of chlorination. The socks provided to athletes are woven with silver fibers to prevent bacteria from producing odor-producing sulfur molecules. 4 You don't have to be as rich as the maharaja to experience the trace kinetic effects of silver. This metal can be added to the urinary catheter and endotracheal breathing tube to reduce infections, and the fabric can be made with a small amount of silver to control bacteria that produce odor compounds when they sweat a lot.

Silver ions inactivate enzymes necessary for bacterial life. This is why bacteria are killed when contaminated water is stored in a silver container. The purity of the silver, the size of the container, and whether the water is shaking are all important determinants of the silver ion concentration. 5

A technology has been developed to generate a proper ion concentration by immersing a pair of silver electrodes connected to a direct current in the water to be purified. This is the method used to produce drinking water during the Apollo space flight, and used in hospital piping systems to inactivate Legionella. Copper usually forms an alloy with the silver in the electrode to take advantage of its microdynamic effect. 6

Until recently, how silver works has been a mystery. Now, a team at Boston University in Massachusetts describes how silver destroys bacteria and shows that this ancient treatment can help deal with the scourge of thoroughly modern antibiotic resistance. 7

Researchers have discovered that silver, in the form of dissolved ions, attacks bacterial cells in two main ways: it makes cell membranes more permeable and interferes with cell metabolism, leading to an overproduction of reactive and usually toxic oxygenated compounds. Can be used These two mechanisms make today's antibiotics more effective against drug-resistant bacteria. 8

Have a medical problem? It is said that colloidal silver can cure many diseases. Manufacturers of colloidal silver supplements often advertise their products, claiming that silver can boost the immune system, fight infections, treat cancer MRSA infections, eliminate Candida, fight flu, and purify water. 9

However, for any health claims made by manufacturers, supplements containing colloidal silver are not considered safe or effective. Silver has no known use in the body. It is not an essential mineral. 10 

Reliable scientific studies evaluating these health claims have not been published in prestigious medical journals. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission have taken action against several companies that made unverified health claims.

When being stuttered, silver will accumulate in your body. After a few months to a few years, this will cause your skin, eyes, internal organs, nails and gums to appear blue-gray discoloration. The doctor called it argyria. It is usually permanent. In rare cases, high doses of colloidal silver can cause serious side effects such as seizures and organ damage. 11

The sign of excessive silver is grayish blue skin, which is irreversible. One of the most famous cases is the Blue Man, a characteristic attraction of Barnum and Bailey Circus in the early 20th century. Apparently, he tried to cure his syphilis by ingesting silver nitrate, but only succeeded in turning himself blue. 6

Recently, the American liberal Stan Jones has failed two elections for the Senate and three failed elections for the governor of Montana, but he did succeed in turning blue. On the cusp of 2000, he worried that computers would stop working, which would somehow make antibiotics unavailable. He decided to take precautions and started taking a colloidal silver preparation, which he made by passing an electric current through a solution equipped with silver electrodes. Unfortunately, he didn't know what he was doing, the voltage he used was too high, and his solution contained a lot of silver. He turned blue. In any case, he insisted that he was still healthy and still injecting himself with colloidal silver. 

Silver and silver nanoparticles exhibit antibacterial properties against certain bacteria, fungi and viruses. However, the increasing application of nano-silver in consumer products, water disinfection and healthcare environments has raised concerns about the public health/environmental safety of such nano-materials.

Nearly 500 consumer products claim to contain nano silver. Ehsan Rezvani and colleagues reviewed the toxicity of nanosilver, which has drawn attention to the growing evidence of nanosilver's toxicity to humans and nature. 12

Andy Warhol's fascination with silver Andy Warhol established his factory on East 47th Street in Midtown Manhattan in 1963, effectively launching an art and culture revolution. In keeping with the space race in the 1960s, he developed a unique silver spacecraft to launch his pop art, the factory. 

It was called the "Silver Factory" because Warhol wrapped the entire attic with silver foil, completely covering the walls and ceiling. Surrounded by silver, the artist and Warhol’s superstars are in a place of worship, art house and creative bed, a silver spaceship exploring the new art galaxy.

"Silver is the future," Warhol declared, and the factory is the starting point for future art. Therefore, with the space race to the moon, Warhol's The Factory was covered in silver because it was spacious-the astronauts wore silver suits-Shepherd, Grissom, and Glenn were already wearing them, and their gear was also silver. "13

A further fascination with silver is Warhol's "Silver Car Accident (Double Disaster)", a 1963 silkscreen print depicting a body twisted inside a damaged silver car. In November 2013, it was sold at an auction in New York for $105 million, setting the highest price for a Warhol work. 

US Department of Energy, Public Domain, CC BY-SA 4.0

The Manhattan Project was an R&D undertaking during World War II, which produced the first nuclear weapons. It is led by the United States and supported by the United Kingdom and Canada.

Silver played an important role in this project. The Y-12 electromagnetic device of this project requires a large amount of copper, but the copper used in the cartridge case was a high-priority commodity during the war. So decided to use silver. There is no need to transfer large amounts of copper, which is a huge benefit for the confidentiality of the project. 14

Magnets require a large amount of copper to be wound, so that the Army had to borrow nearly 15,000 tons of silver ingots from the U.S. Department of the Treasury to make them into strips and wind them on coils as a substitute for copper. Gold and silver are also used to make the bus bars that run around the top of the Y-12 factory track.

The last item on Silver and the Manhattan Project: The codename of the delivery plan for bombing within the Air Force is Silverplate. 15

1. Robert Duva, "Silver and Silver Alloys", in WH Safranek, Characteristics of Electrodeposited Metals and Alloys, Second Edition, (Orlando, Florida, American Electroplating and Surface Treatment Association, 1986).

2. Josh Bloom, "Silver: the pound sterling element anyway", acsh.org, November 24, 2017.

3. Josh Bloom, "Can silver chloride be interesting? You bet," acsh.org, October 15, 2019.

4. John Emsley, "Nature's Building Blocks" (Oxford University Press, 2001).

5. Joe Schwarcz, the spirit in a bottle, (New York, Henry Holt and Company, 2002).

6. Joe Schwarcz, is this true? , (Toronto, Canada, ECW Press, 2014).

7. Brian Owens, "Silver increases the effectiveness of antibiotics thousands of times", nature.com, June 19, 2013.

8. Jose Ruben Morones-Rameriz et al., "Silver enhances antibiotic activity against Gram-negative bacteria", Science Translational Medicine, 5, 190, June 19, 2013.

 9. JB Bardot, "Colloidal silver cures MRSA infections, purifies water, destroys Candida, and fights flu-despite FDA bans," naturalnews.com, February 6, 2012.

10. Brent A. Bauer, "Colloidal silver supplements: are they safe?", mayoclinic.org, August 25, 2020.

11. Ross Pomeroy, "Bacteria killed with silver will become'zombies' and kill other bacteria", realclearscience.com, April 26, 2015.

12. Ehsan Rezvani et al., "Nanosilver's adverse effects on human health and the environment", Journal of Biomaterials, 94, 145, August 2019.

13. Aurora Garrison, "Andy Warhol's Silver Spaceship, Factory, Launched the Pop Art Revolution", revolverwarholgallery.com, February 2018.

14. Bruce Cameron Reed, "From the Vault to the Manhattan Project", American scientist, January-February 2001.

15. Richard Rhodes, The Making of the Atomic Bomb, (Simon & Schuster, New York, 1986), p. 584.

Jack Dini received a bachelor's degree in metallurgical engineering from Cleveland State University and began his career at Cleveland Supply Company (now Pavco) in the 1950s. He worked for several years in the research center of the Republic Steel Company and the Battelle Columbus Laboratory. In 1962, he joined Sandia Laboratories in Livermore, California, where he participated in an electrodeposition project for 18 years before moving to Lawrence Livermore (LLNL) in 1980. He is the head of the manufacturing process department. Responsibilities include the activities of the five groups: electroplating and metal finishing, vacuum technology, metal manufacturing, plastics and optics.

Mr. Dini is a prolific scientist. He is the author or co-author of approximately 125 technical papers. Although many researchers are content to focus on one or two fields, he has made significant contributions to more than six disciplines in the field of surface treatment. He is the author of two books, Electrodeposition-Material Science of Coatings and Substrates and Challenging Environmental Myths: Wrestling Zeus. Fortunately for the scientific community, he carefully recorded his work and shared it with others around the world. It includes plating rare metals, alloy plating, printed circuits, chemical milling, electrical connection, and collecting electrochemical/performance data.

This article is a peer-reviewed and edited version of the NASF SUR/FIN 2012 presentation in Las Vegas, Nevada, June 13, 2012.

In 1971, the Carl E. Huessner Gold Award was awarded to J. Cote and his colleagues for their best paper published in the electroplating or AES technical conference in 1970. It is actually a two-part paper that began in 1969. The second part of the paper has been republished in the AES/AESF/NASF Best Paper Award series since 1970. Their work provides very important work on how the anodizing process reacts with other materials alloyed with commercial aluminum grades.

In our first paper of this month, we introduced the latest work of AESF/NASF Research, using rotating cylindrical Hull cells (RCH) to study the behavior of Ni-Mo-W electroplating baths. The second paper was originally published in 1993 and outlined the basic concepts and work behind RCH community development.

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