ornitz@kodak.UUCP (Barry Ornitz) (02/28/90)
In article <1990Feb27.055111.18154@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> forbes@aries.scs.uiuc.edu (Jeff Forbes) writes: >The mercury cannot amalgamate the aluminum though the oxide coat. Aluminium >can be amalgamated with certain mercury salts which is useful if you want to >react the aluminum with something that cannot break through the oxide layer. Aluminum is fairly easy to amalgamate once you get through the oxide coating found on any aluminum surface that has been exposed to air. One simple way is to place the mercury in the bottom of a small container and cover it with hydrochloric acid. Take the aluminum piece to be coated and immerse it in the acid long enough for the oxide layer to be etched away; then immerse it into the mercury below. When the aluminum piece is removed, it should be coated with a thin layer of mercury. An interesting effect may be seen with aluminum amalgam. The aluminum in the surface of the amalgam will oxidize when exposed to air and slough off, but most of the mercury will remain and form new amalgam. This will continue until either the mercury or the aluminum is consumed. The aluminum oxide formed will be a light, fluffy material. If a piece of aluminum amalgam is placed in a spot where air currents are negligible, the oxide can sometimes form long, delicate "feathers". It is dangerous to handle these, however, because of the mercury content. Remember that while metallic mercury not be very dangerous to handle, mercury vapor is quite toxic. The finer the droplets of mercury from a spill are, the more surface area is exposed for vaporization. The mercury left in the "feathers" described above is extremely finely divided and thus quite hazardous. If you spill mercury, dust the area with sulfur before trying to vacuum it up. BTW, we have EXTREME restrictions on mercury use at this plant. Some of our products go into film manufacturing and mercury is a silver halide poison. We even restrict some cosmetics on employees that contain mercury compounds. ----------------- | ___ ________ | Dr. Barry L. Ornitz WA4VZQ | | / / | | UUCP: ....rutgers!rochester!kodak!ornitz | | / / | | Eastman Kodak Company | |< < K O D A K| | Eastman Chemical Company Research Laboratories | | \ \ | | P. O. Box 1972, Building 167B | |__\ \________| | Kingsport, TN 37662 615/229-4904 | | INTERNET: ornitz@kodak.kodak.com -----------------