> and for me the problem is to find gold cholide at a good price in a non
> diluted form .
> i find find suppliers but they only sell it in diluted form (to diluted 5%
> 1 %).
> and when the supplier sell it in solid form it double the price.
>
> nze christian
Thanks to all members who suggested sources for 3,3'-Thiodipropionic acid.
I have bought from my source for noble metal salts in Italy
solid Auric chloride, being HAuCl4.3H2O, at $5.50 per gram (one year ago).
The price depends on the daily rating of gold in the following way
(I understand it is the standard method to form prices of noble metal salts):
since the formula weight of the above salt (394) contains almost exactly
50% of pure gold (197), the price per gram is 50% of the actual rating of gold
(say, $10 per gram) plus 10-15% for manufacturing costs (this can vary).
This supplier uses the same method to form the price of Palladium chloride
(60% of pure metal in the formula weight of PdCl2).
He is a supplier of noble metals to goldsmiths, so the drawback
is you cannot swear on the purity of these salts, only the
percentage of metal is guaranteed.
This should not be a big issue for the main use they are sold for,
that is gold or palladium plating in jewelery.
But I think also in many Alt-photo uses a slight quantity of impurities
in these salts can be tolerated.
When I tried PdCl2 sold as a 10% solution I discovered it was filled up
with hydrocloric acid and didn't work, so I switched to the solid salt
from this same source and found it yelds in Ziatypes results that are
hardly distinguishable from B&S more refined salts.
I think goldsmiths suppliers as a source for noble metal salts
can be *cautiously* checked as a useful alternative to expensive
chemical firms.
Francesco Curcio
Milano Italy