copperoxide

[mormanman]

ok i look in this place and in the chemistry thing and it said how to make copperoxide but i have no idea what it says and if its cheapier to buy it just tell me then i'll shut up about it but does anyone know how to make copper oxide

[cplmac]

Copper Oxide is pretty cheap. I think I bought two pounds for 10 bucks at the convention last year.

[AcidBurn]

If you mean the black copper oxide it's pretty simple to make it.

 

Take 200mL Of CuSO4 solution (concentrated) and get it to boil. Then add 50mL of 38% NaOH solution into CuSO4 solution (you have to take it of the heat source first). Mix this for a few minutes, and black crystals should precipitate out. Leave this to cool down, then filter it, and the black crystals are copper oxide.

[cplmac]

That does sound pretty simple, but if you have access to Copper sulfate and Sodium Hydroxide woudn't you likely have access to Copper Oxide? Sounds like a pretty simple synthesis though.

[Mumbles]

Your product with that method, while it does form CuO, it will be outrageously contaminated with sodium contamination. Sodium yellow is brutal on blue colors.

 

If you can get KOH use that. If not it's going to take many many washings to get a suitable product.

[AcidBurn]

I couldn't agree more mumbles.

 

When I was making CuO with this synthesis for the first time, I used NaOH (because I was out of KOH), and I had to wash it for about 30 times, until i got let's say "clean" product.

[ltf]

Wouldn't you get CuOH after reacting CuSO4 and NaOH/KOH?

It doesnt really matters because you can easily make CuO from CuOH, just put it in the oven for an hour or so in 100-120 degrees C.

But correct me if I'm wrong, I just clearly remember reading a guide about making CuO this way.

I made CuO this way and am quite sure it's CuO and even believe it's quite pure.

[Mumbles]

The hot soln instantly converts the Cu(OH)2 to CuO.

 

I made a large batch some time ago, approximatly a kilo of product formed. I never did get around to washing it enough. Hot alcohol removes any residual hydroxide, but the sulfate is a bitch to get out. When making a batch of this size, no external heat is actually required. The heat of solvation of the NaOH is enough to convert. I stuck my hand in to see what was going on, and the bottom was noticeably warm. Instantly upon addition an inky black ppct started forming. The rxn was ran in a 5 gallon bucket. The product came out with a brown tinge, so perhaps more heat is neccesary to fully convert.

[oriansbelt]

An easy way to make copper oxide is to simply heat metalic copper to a very high temperature an just let the air oxidise it. I did this today in a furnace when I was trying to make a copper alloy but the furnace didn't get to the required 1950 degrees to melt the copper so it just oxidised. The alloy I was trying to make was brass but since the it didn't work the zinc that I had added just puffed up and as it cooled I realized that it had turned yellow crystaline structure. It was actually quite interesting looking, I'll post a picture of it but it is locked in the lab I did it in and I wont be able to get to it for another 2 weeks.

[mormanman]

so then what do you wash the sulfate off with then

[ActionTekJackson]

Copperoxide is insoluable in water, sulfates are highly soluable in water, so simply rinse it with water through a filter. Which is easier said than done...

[mormanman]

i'm just wondering I checked around from some people that I know and they say that you can just put in vingar or lemon juice or water and then add eletricty to it so my question is will that work

 

b/c you guys sound more difficult than just putting it in vingar or lemon juice

[pudidotdk]

That's electrolysis?

 

What exactly do you mean? That there's something dissolved in the water or what?

[mormanman]

That's electrolysis?

 

What exactly do you mean? That there's something dissolved in the water or what?

I mean that I have heard that all you have to do is throw some copper in some vingar and it will oxidize

 

I'm just asking if that will work and if anyone has ever tried this and if this works and/or easier to clean?

[Mumbles]

I mean that I have heard that all you have to do is throw some copper in some vingar and it will oxidize

 

I'm just asking if that will work and if anyone has ever tried this and if this works and/or easier to clean?

Probably won't work. That method can work for iron and such, but hydrogen is higher on the activitiy series that copper. Only oxidising acids will react with copper, of which acetic acid is not one.

[mormanman]

So then what happens when you add an electric charge to it?

And when it oxidizes does the copper turn green?

[armogedon]

the copper should turn green if the solution you are putting it in is a saltwater solution. the more salt in the solution the diffrent the results will become. i have made some that was brown instead of green.