February 16, 2016, by the inspection and Quarantine Bureau of Jinhua, Zhejiang Fluorine Chemical Co., Ltd. Rising batch of 180 tons, worth 1.125 million yuan in anhydrous hydrofluoric acid successfully exported to Japan. This is the year beginning February 1 naphthalene involving hazardous chemicals, arsenic, lithium, etc. Item No. 41 additional customs entry-exit inspection and quarantine requirements, the council's first export of hydrofluoric acid products.

Hydrofluoric acid as the leaching agent leaching enriched lithium aluminum rocks, explored experiments and single factor experiments. The results showed that 75 ℃, solid-liquid ratio (g / mL) was 1:8, volume of hydrofluoric acid score of 17%, the reaction time was 15 min and stirring intensity of 300 r / min under conditions of lithium leaching rate 98.73%; leaching keeping other conditions unchanged, the use of ambient temperature (25 ℃) leaching, lithium can still leaching rate up 83.80 percent. mineral ore by XRD analysis and leaching slag composition, the results show that the reaction of hydrofluoric acid and aluminum hydrofluoric acid process is mainly rock selective dissolution of lithium main carrier mineral kaolinite, lithium during the reaction emigration occurred and enrichment.

Hydrofluoric acid has the chemical formula HF, but unlike HCl you won’t find this one in a school laboratory, and if it turns up in your stomach you’re in very big trouble.  In true movie-acid style it’s capable of dissolving many materials, and is particularly well-known for its ability to dissolve glass (which is mainly silicon dioxide).  It will also dissolve most ceramics (which contain aluminosilicates: compounds made of chemically-bonded aluminium, silicon and oxygen).  

And, like many other acids, it also reacts with metals, so storing it is a bit tricky.  Where do you put something that eats through its container? Well, these days it’s stored in special plastic bottles, but in the 17th century when it was first discovered chemists had to use glass bottles coated inside with wax, and hope the coating was a good one.

Hydrofluoric acid has been an important industrial chemical for centuries.  It’s used to etch patterns into, and clean, glass and ceramics, and also to dissolve rock samples, for example to extract chemicals or fossils from rocks.  It’s also used to clean stainless steel and, in more recent times, to prepare silicon wafers (used to make silicon chips) in the electronics industries.