Abstract
The study aims to establish a chemical method of silver recovery from x-ray processing fixer waste by alkaline treatment using sodium hydroxide (NaOH). The samples used in the study were collected from selected hospitals and radiology centers in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines. The NaOH precipitation method was employed by varying the amount of NaOH from 8.00 g to 15.00 g per 600 mL of the fixer waste sample. The recovered crude silver for the two sampling periods ranged from 0.88 g to 2.46 g. The method resulted to optimum recovery at pH 9. The One Way ANOVA indicates that there are significant differences on the amount of silver recovered when varying the amount of NaOH in “sampling A”. The Tukey Test further reveals that there exists an evident rise in the recovered silver using 10.00 g to 15.00 g of NaOH. In “sampling B” the amount of silver recovered does not significantly differ when varying the amount of NaOH used on average basis. The raw data, however, also revealed a significant rise in the amount of silver recovered using 10.00 g to 15.00 g of NaOH where pH was approximately 9.
Highlights
In the advent of modernization, several researches have been established to gaze on alternative means of collecting metals with a goal of reducing the dependence on traditional ore mining and at the same time decreasing the metal content of waste materials
The result shows inconsistencies, an increase in the mass of NaOH generally results to an increase in silver recovery
An increase in the pH of the resulting mixture generally results to an increase in silver recovery
Summary
In the advent of modernization, several researches have been established to gaze on alternative means of collecting metals with a goal of reducing the dependence on traditional ore mining and at the same time decreasing the metal content of waste materials. The increasing use for silver is significant in the industry of x-ray processing and photography. This metal is often used as component of film emulsion containing silver halide grain, commonly silver bromide (AgBr). The release of such to any body of water promotes prolonged exposure of the environment to water-soluble inorganic chemicals and pollutants Levels of these waste chemicals can make water unfit to drink, harm fish and other aquatic life, depress crop yields, and accelerates corrosion to equipment that uses such water. Having known of the potential hazard brought by x-ray processing fixer waste, and the valued metal present, it is sensible to recover the precious silver metal it contain. Studies in the past employed other methods like electrochemistry [9,10,11,12]
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