Mercury silvering Mercury silvering Mercury silvering or fire gilding is a silvering technique for applying a thin layer of precious metal such as silver or gold (mercury gilding) to a base metal object. The process was invented during the Middle Ages and is documented in Vannoccio Biringuccio's 1540 book "De la pirotechnia". An amalgam of mercury and the precious metal is prepared and applied to the object which is then heated, sometimes in oil, vaporizing most of the mercury. The technique is dangerous since mercury is highly toxic, especially in its vapor phase. Mercury silvering can be detected through a variety of
Mercury selenide mean that it is less toxic than elemental mercury or many organometallic mercury compounds. Selenium's ability to complex with mercury has been proposed as a reason for the lack of mercury toxicity in deep sea fish despite high mercury levels. Mercury selenide Mercury selenide (HgSe) is a chemical compound of mercury and selenium. It is a grey-black crystalline solid semi-metal with a sphalerite structure. The lattice constant is 0.608 nm. Mercury selenide can also refer to the following chemical compounds: HgSe and HgSe. HgSe is strictly mercury(II) selenide. HgSe occurs naturally as the mineral Tiemannite. Along with other II-VI compounds,