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What is a cheap source for a stripping chemical?

 

To anyone that can help. I am very interested in removing gold from chips and circuit boards, and then refining it myself, where can I get some more information on what chemicals to use to strip the gold from the boards. As I find most of the companies chemicals too expensive because of the Haz-Mat charges. I am also willing to pay a fee to anyone that can supply me with this information.

Thanks a lot and happy prospecting.

Dale Baird
- Connellsville, Pennsylvania

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You can strip gold with cyanide, but that's out of the question in a non-industrial environment. You can strip it with aqua regia, but that's out of the question in a non-industrial environment. Your final choice is some kind of complexor, perhaps citric acid ⇦ this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] based, but you would have to do a good literature search to find any articles on this as a starting point, and then you'd still be a long way from a real solution.

As for paying fees, you should probably do that for anyone who can point you to O-L-D electronics where the gold plating thicknesses were probably ten to twenty times what they are today.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey