Answer to Question #52673 in Physical Chemistry for Ismail Mohamed

Question

Can nano particles be precipitated and if so how much grams or milligrams will be produced?

How can one precipitate colloidal silver after electrolysis and how can I increase the concentration of the nanoparticles?

Answer 1

Nanoparticles can be precipitated (for example in homogeneous solution by electrolysis). The concentration of nanoparticles in the water is usually measured in parts per million, or ppm. While this is the standard convention, ppm is a "ratio" and not an indicator of quantity. For example, when a laboratory tests colloidal silver for concentration, they report the findings in milligrams per liter (mg/L). Milligrams per liter is an actual measurement of weight per volume, and therefore is a real quantity measurement. In the metric system, one liter of water weighs 1000 grams, and one milligram is one thousandth (1/1000) of a gram, so 1 mg/L is the same as 1 ppm, as long as we are talking about water. Silver weighs a little more than water, but the equivalence is very close, and the terms are often used interchangeably. With this in mind, we can calculate that one teaspoon of 5 ppm colloidal silver has about 25 mcg (micrograms) of silver in it.
The simplest way to make real colloidal silver is by the "low voltage electrolysis" method. A few batteries may be connected to some silver electrodes and placed in a glass of water. This process will cause small particles of silver to be sintered off the electrodes and enter the water. This deceptively simple method is very easy to do. The concentration of the nanoparticles can be increased by stiring the solution during the electrolysis and by increasing of the concentration of the stock solution and by increasing of the purity of water in which you provide the electrolysis.