Is HgI2 covalent

Answer 1

You could argue that it is. Mercury is a metal and iodine is a non-metal, and this typically results in an ionic bond. However, mercury and iodine have a fairly low electronegativity difference (about 0.6) which gives the compound a fair amount of covalent character. In fact, that compound's melting point is about 260 deg. Celsius, which is quite low for an ionic compound (NaCl, by comparison, is 800.) This shows quite a bit of covalent character, since covalent compounds generally have much lower melting points.

Answer 2

No, HgI2 is an ionic compound. It is made up of mercury (Hg) and iodine (I) ions, with mercury having a 2+ charge and iodine having a 1- charge. Ionic compounds form when a metal and a nonmetal combine, resulting in the transfer of electrons from one atom to another.