temperature above the decomposition temperature of the silver compound but below the melting point of silver metal by which the silver compound is decomposed to form finely divided particles of pure densified silver and d separating the precipitated silver particles from the carrier gas reaction by products and solvent voltilization products application_number US 22541394 A description silver compound any soluble silver salt can be used in the method of the invention so long as it is inert with respect to the carrier gas used to form the aerosols examples of suitable salts are agno 3 agapo 4 ag 2 so 4 and the like insoluble silver salts such as agcl are not however suitable the silver salt may be used in concentrations as low as 0 2 mole liter and upward to just below the solubility limit of the salt it is preferred not to use concentrations below 0 2 mole liter or higher than 90 of saturation while it is preferred to use water soluble silver salts as the source of silver for the method of the invention the method can nevertheless be carried out effectively with the use of other solvent soluble silver compounds such as organometallic silver compounds dissolved in either aqueous or organic solvents operating variables the method of the invention can be carried out under a wide variety of operating conditions so long as the following fundamental criteria are met 1 the concentration of silver compound in the aerosol must be below the saturation concentration at the feed temperature and preferably at least 10 below the saturation concentration in order to prevent precipitation of solids before removal of the liquid solvent 2 the concentration of droplets in the aerosol must be sufficiently.