How Is Silver Fulminate Synthesized?

Silver fulminate is a highly explosive compound that can be synthesized by reacting silver nitrate with ammonium hydroxide and ethanol. The detailed steps for synthesizing silver fulminate are:

1. Dissolve 2 grams of silver nitrate in 10 milliliters of distilled water.

2. Add 2 milliliters of ammonium hydroxide slowly to the silver nitrate solution while stirring. This will cause a white precipitate to form, which is silver hydroxide.

3. Continue adding ammonium hydroxide until the white precipitate dissolves completely, forming a clear solution of silver diammine complex.

4. Add 5 milliliters of ethanol to the silver diammine complex solution.

5. Cool the mixture in an ice bath to maintain a temperature below 5°C.

6. Slowly add 2 milliliters of concentrated nitric acid to the cooled solution while stirring. This will cause silver fulminate to form as a yellow precipitate.

7. Filter the resulting mixture to separate the solid silver fulminate from the liquid.

8. Wash the silver fulminate several times with cold distilled water to remove any impurities.

9. Dry the silver fulminate in a well-ventilated area at room temperature.

It is important to note that silver fulminate is highly explosive and should be handled with extreme caution by experienced professionals in a safe laboratory setting.