Sodium Nitrate

A commonly used dry substitute for nitric acid when making aqua regia. This compound is significantly better than nitric because:

• It is far less hazardous
• Fumes are reduced by 90-95%
• it is more easily obtained
• It is far less expensive

One drawback is that is dissolves very slowly. Often much of both the sodium nitrate and HCl are wasted because the sodium nitrate remains undissolved. For a compound that dissolves faster completely, we recommend MX3 Dissolving Agent.