Aims: To recover silver from industrial waste and use its solution in silver oxide deposition. Study Design: Extraction, electrodeopsition on different substrates, XRD and topographical characterizations.

Silver was recovered from x-ray films by dissolving the silver compounds with three different solvents (concentrated nitric acid, cassava juice and NaCN solution) and the resultant solutions were labeled Electrolyte B, C, and D. A fourth solution comprising of silver nitrate made from commercial product was labeled Electrolyte A. The solution thus formed was used as electrolyte in the electrodeposition of silver oxide. Silver oxides (Ag3O4, AgO and Ag2O) thin films of optical thicknesses, 0.2μm to 1.25μm were electrodeposited on a transparent FTO conducting glass substrates at room temperature from the silver solutions. The FTO conducting glass served as cathode while a carbon electrode served as the anode. Electrodeposition was done under dc current of 0.2A, 4V for 20seconds at 26oC. From the results, prominent peaks of orientation (031) and (111) planes of reflection of high intensity gave monoclinic structures of Ag3O4 and AgO in the films produced from all the four electrolytes with intergrowth of cubic structure of Ag2O in the film produced from electrolyte C. The average crystalline grain size calculated gave a range of 5.274 Å – 5.432Å. Optical measurements show ultra violet range of 0.36-0.45 microns and have almost zero absorbance in VIS-IR regions of the spectrum. The films have a band gap range of 2.3 – 2.7eV. Transmittance and reflectance data have been used to calculate the spectral variation of their optical constants. From the results films produced from electrolyte C compared well with others.

This paper reviewed the production of electric porcelain insulators utilizing from local raw materials from developing countries. The raw materials used were feldspar, quartz/silica and kaolin. The chemical composition, mineralogy, and thermal properties of the raw materials were characterized using AAS, XRD, and TGA respectively. Different weight percentage combinations of the individual raw materials were investigated by the authors. Most of the results showed relatively acceptable porcelain insulators properties such as low water absorption, porosity, high insulation resistance, dielectric strength and bulk density. The paper showed that electric porcelain insulators with good properties can be produced from available local raw materials in some developing countries using appropriate formulations. However, for production of improved porcelain insulators properties, suggestions were made on the areas for future research.