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(I) sulfate to the mercury metal. One way to prepare mercury(I) sulfate is to mix the acidic solution of mercury(I) nitrate with 1 to 6 sulfuric acid solution:, It can also be prepared by reacting an excess of mercury with concentrated sulfuric acid: Mercury(I) Sulfate is often used in electrochemical cells, It was first introduced in electrochemical cells by Latimer Clark in 1872, It was then alternatively used in Weston Cells made by George Augustus Hulett in 1911. It has been found to be a good electrode at high temperatures above 100 °C along with Silver Sulfate. Mercury(I) Sulfate was found to