Metal leaf

Encyclopedia : M : ME : MET : Metal leaf

Metal leaf, or leafing, is a thin foil of some nearly pure metal, often gold, silver, aluminum, copper and sometimes paladium.

Contents

1 Process
2 Uses

2.1 Decoration
2.2 Confection

3 See also
4 External links

Process

The gold leaf industry is important in Myanmar.

Gold leaf is only a few micrometres thick and is delicate. Here we see a pack of 100 gold leaves with some gold coins. A puff of air crumpled the gold leaf. The value of each gold leaf is about $0.20

Metals that are made into metal leaf are highly malleable. They can be pounded into sheets just micrometres thick without breaking or tearing. When made by hand, small pieces of metal are placed between sheets of parchment and pounded repeatedly with wooden mallets. As the metal thins out, it forms large sheets. These sheets are divided and the process repeated. The final sheets of metal are trimmed, cut to various sizes, and sandwiched between sheets of paper to protect them. A small amount of metal will result in a sheet with a large surface area but only a few atoms thick.

Uses

Decoration

Metal leaf is most often used for decoration. Before the discovery of electroplating it was the only cost effective way to gild statues, rooftops or other objects.

Confection

Gold and silver leafs are non-toxic when labeled as food-grade and so can be used to decorate food or drink. They can be often found in a number of desserts including chocolates and Indian Mithais. A recent trend has been the inclusion of floating bits of gold leaf in liquors such as Goldschläger. Most gold leaf is alloyed with copper and should not be eaten.

External links

[Kanazawa Yasue Gold-Leaf Museum]