Mercuric oxide

Mercuric oxide

Mercuric oxide is a metallic compound that was used in battery manufacture during World War II and can be combined with other metallic compounds. It can also be used as a raw material for extracting mercury or other mercury compounds. However, exposure to mercuric oxide is harmful and can cause poisoning. Additionally, some mercury species can be oxidized into mercuric oxide or mercuric salts by hydrogen peroxide.From: Mercury Pollution [2019], Cleaning of lead smelting flue gas scrubber sludge and recovery of lead, selenium and mercury by the hydrometallurgical route [2018], Hazardous Chemicals [2019], Feasibility study on the use of thiosulfate to remediate mercury-contaminated soil [2019]

Cells and batteries

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Published in Adrian Waygood, An Introduction to Electrical Science, 2013

Adrian Waygood

The mercury cell is so-called because its positive electrode is manufactured from a mixture of mercuric-oxide and graphite. Its negative electrode is manufactured from zinc, and its electrolyte is potassium hydroxide. The entire cell is encapsulated in a two-part stainless-steel capsule, with the main part usually (but not always) providing the positive potential, and the ‘cap’ part providing the negative potential to the external circuit. Its e.m.f. is 1.35 V, which remains exceptionally steady throughout its life span.

Cleaning of lead smelting flue gas scrubber sludge and recovery of lead, selenium and mercury by the hydrometallurgical route

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Journal Information

Published in Environmental Technology, 2018

Peng Xing, Baozhong Ma, Chengyan Wang, Yongqiang Chen

The selective precipitation of Hg was carried out from 100 mL Se–Hg leach liquor (Hg 26.2 g/L) at 30°C for 2 h. The equilibrium pH was adjusted in the range of 9.0–13.0 by adding NaOH. It was observed that precipitation of Hg increased with the increase in equilibrium pH (Figure 11). The maximum of precipitation of Hg was obtained at pH 13.0 with a value of 99.3%. The component of red mercuric oxide precipitate obtained at pH 13.0 is shown in Table 4, which suggests the mercuric oxide precipitate to be pure as only trace amounts of Fe and Cu were detected in the precipitate. The mercuric oxide precipitate could be used as raw material for extracting mercury or other mercury compounds.

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Cells and batteries

Cleaning of lead smelting flue gas scrubber sludge and recovery of lead, selenium and mercury by the hydrometallurgical route