Re:Hydrofluoric Acid: An Invisible Fire (1996)
by julian_t on Tuesday May 01, 2018 @09:13AM
(#16966744)
We mixed it fresh every day, and to contain it we used crucibles made from a platinum/gold alloy. Which, needless to say, were locked away very carefully at the end of the day.
And I was using it to dissolve up rock specimens for analysis: basaltic lavas that contained chromite and other notably insoluble minerals.
That stuff would dissolve anything...
But that sounds - if you'll pardon the pun - like child's play compared to your boiling(!) nitric, HF and perchloric acid. I cannot image how you'd even contain such an evil substance? And what was it used for?