Reductant (Noun)
Meaning
A substance capable of bringing about the reduction of another substance as it itself is oxidized; used in photography to lessen the density of a negative or print by oxidizing some of the loose silver.
Classification
Nouns denoting substances.
Examples
- In the chemical reaction, the metal served as a reductant, donating electrons to reduce the oxide to its elemental form.
- The photographic developer used a strong reductant to reduce the silver halides in the film, bringing out the latent image.
- To create a softer image, photographers can use a weaker reductant to gently reduce the silver in the negative.
- In the printing process, the reductant in the toning solution selectively reduced the silver particles to produce a warmer, more sepia-toned image.
- By carefully controlling the concentration of the reductant, the scientist was able to selectively reduce the iron oxide in the sample without affecting the surrounding minerals.