Mercury silvering methods. The technique was also used in Asia, for example "tokin" plating in Edo-period Japan. 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
Mercury(II) hydride reaction, it can be seen that mercury(II) hydride hydrolysis is catalysed by acidic conditions. Alireza Shayesteh "et al" conjectured that bacteria, containing the flavoprotein, mercuric reductase, such as "Escherichia coli", can in theory reduce soluble mercury compounds to volatile HgH, which should have a transient existence in nature. Mercury(II) hydride may be prepared by the reduction of mercury(II) chloride. In this process, mercury(II) chloride and a hydride salt equivalent react to produce mercury(II) hydride according to the following equations, which depend on the stochiometry of the reaction: Variations of this method exits where mercury(II) chloride is substituted for its heavier