Applications
for Silver
as provided by the Silver Institute:
Batteries:
Both rechargeable
and disposable batteries can contain silver. Although more expensive
than
traditional batteries, silver battery cells have superior
power-to-weight
characteristics.
Bearings:
Steel bearings
electroplated with high purity silver have greater fatigue strength and
load carrying capacity than any other type and are hence used in
various
hi-tech and heavy-duty applications.
Brazing
and Soldering:
Silver brazing alloys are used widely in applications ranging from
air-conditioning
and refrigeration equipment to power distribution equipment in the
electrical
engineering sector. It is also used in the automobile and aerospace
industries.
The European Union has recently passed legislation that banned lead
based
solders and are now being replaced with solders that contain silver.
Catalysts:
One of
the great discoveries of chemistry was that the efficiency of chemical
reactions can be significantly increased in the presence of other
elements
or compounds that do not enter into the reaction, silver being one of
them.
Coins
: Silver, being
a rare and noble metal, was a more desirable medium of exchange than
beads,
feathers, shells, and the like. Its use as a medium of exchange is
known
throughout all recorded history.
Electrical:
Silver
is the best electrical conductor of all metals and is hence used in
many
electrical applications, particularly in conductors, switches, contacts
and fuses. Contacts, a junction between two conductors that can be
separated
and through which a current can flow, account for the largest
proportion
of electrical demand.
Electronics:
In electronics,
silver is also widely used. Uses include silk-screened circuit paths,
membrane
switches, electrically heated automobile windows, and conductive
adhesives.
Electroplating:
The
ease of electrodeposition of silver accounts for silver's widespread
use
in coating.
Jewelry
and Silverware:
Silver
possesses working qualities similar to gold but enjoys greater
reflectivity
and can achieve the most brilliant polish of any metal.
Mirrors
and Other Coatings:
Silver!|s
unique optical reflectivity, and its property of being virtually 100%
reflective
after polishing, allows it to be used both in mirrors and in coatings
for
glass, cellophane or metals.
Photography:
The photographic
process is based on the presence of silver halide crystals suspended on
an unexposed film, which, when exposed to light, are set in such a way
that they are selectively reducible to metallic silver by agents called
developers. Approximately 5,000 color photographs can be taken using
one
ounce of silver.
Solar
Energy: Silver
paste is used in 90 percent of all crystalline silicon photovoltaic
cells,
which are the most common solar cell, according to the Photovoltaic
Technology
Division of the U.S. Department of Energy. And all silicon cells used
in
space to power satellites use silver in the form of evaporated metal to
make the electrical contact.
Textiles:
Fabrics
that generate warmth (wired heaters), control bacteria, reduce odor,
and
stimulate muscle tone may seem a bit futuristic, but clothing made of
silver-coated
textiles has created a new class of consumer wear with more
applications
ahead.
Water
Purification: Silver
is employed as a bactericide and algaecide in an ever increasing number
of water purification systems in hospitals, remote communities and,
more
recently, domestic households.
Visit www.silverinstitute.org
for further detailed information pertaining to silver.
