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) fluoride Mercury(I) fluoride Mercury(I) fluoride or mercurous fluoride is the chemical compound composed of mercury and fluorine with the formula HgF. It consists of small yellow cubic crystals, which turn black when exposed to light. Mercury(I) fluoride is prepared by the reaction of mercury(I) carbonate with hydrofluoric acid: When added to water, mercury(I) fluoride hydrolyzes to elemental liquid mercury, mercury(II) oxide, and hydrofluoric acid: It can be used in the Swarts reaction to convert alkyl halides into alkyl fluorides: In common with other Hg(I) (mercurous) compounds which contain linear X-Hg-Hg-X units, HgF contains linear FHgF units with an Hg-Hg bond length