copper chloride

[TYRONEEZEKIEL]

I made a sodium chloride solution and used a 9volt battery to electrolize the copper attached to the ends. My solution turned yellow like orange juice and I realized that it is the sodium making sodium hydroxide. Is this just a fail method, or could I use a different salt?

[FrankRizzo]

Yes, it's a fail method. The reaction won't produce any specific products since there are no reaction products that will leave the solution. You'll end up with a mixture of sodium chloride, sodium hydroxide, copper chloride, copper oxide, and copper hydroxide.

 

A better solution is to use hardware store muriatic acid (HCl) to dissolve your copper wire into solution. To speed the process, use a bit of hydrogen peroxide as well. This also has the advantage in that you won't have sodium contamination.

[TYRONEEZEKIEL]

Ok. I also did just that earlier today. I got piping hot copper pipe in a peroxide and hcl solution. It seems to work just right so far, I just wanted to dabble in electrolysis

 

 

:edit: also isn't copper not soluble in hcl since it's a noble metal? Isn't the peroxide necessary?

Edited April 9, 2009 by TYRONEEZEKIEL

[mike_au]

I got piping hot copper pipe in a peroxide and hcl solution.

 

Be careful adding heated metal to liquid, it could boil and spit acid everywhere.

I don't think the reaction would need to be heated to work so it might be a better idea to leave it at room temperature, or heat the solution itself rather than the metal.

 

:edit: also isn't copper not soluble in hcl since it's a noble metal? Isn't the peroxide necessary?

 

You are right that copper doesn't react with HCl directly, but copper isn't a noble metal so it will form copper oxide (which will react with HCl) naturally (albeit slowly).

[TYRONEEZEKIEL]

Normally I do heat the solution over the metal, I just figured odd speed it up a bit this time. I also dipped it in slowly letting the bubbling subside before lowering it in the solution. Also, do I just let the stuff evaporate, or is there a quicker way to yield? I would rather do it the right way, so I don't want to do anything to corrupt to salt

[Mumbles]

If you let it evaporate you're going to have a lot of water chemically bound to your salt, and a lot of acid fumes around. Why do you want it anyway? It doesn't have very many pyro uses.

[Seymour]

In my experience Copper metal dissolves in HCl perfectly well...

 

I do that before dumping Zn dust in to get a lovely red Cu metal ppt, and while I'm sure adding Hydrogen peroxide speeds it up (as well as creating Copper oxychloride??) I've never done it.

[WarezWally]

HCl alone will not dissolve copper, adding H2O2 oxidises the surface of the copper*, the resulting copper oxide then forms copper chloride.

 

*I think

[Miech]

That's correct. HCl does not react with copper metal, but it does with its oxide. H2O2 with any acid is a very strong oxidizer, which can oxidise elemental copper. The H2O2 isn't as much as a cathalyst, it does react an is consumed by the reaction.

 

Simplified you get this:

Cu + H2O2 + 2HCl --> CuO + H2O + 2HCl --> CuCl2 + 2 H2O

 

Take care to start with a small batch. I'm regulary etching PCB boards with H2O2/HCl solution, and it will heat up a lot and will give a lot of HCl fumes. I'd recommend doing this experiment outside, on a place where neither copper stains nor H2O2 stains matter. Take care not to spill any fluid on your fingers or cloathing, it will bleach it almost instantly.

[Mumbles]

It will also form small amounts of HClO (think bleach), Cl2, and ClO2. As for why you'd be doing anything like this without gloves or old clothes/labcoat is beyond me though.

[Bonny]

You can also make copper chloride by dissolving copper carbonate into HCl.

[Mumbles]

It would also be helpful if you told us if you wanted copper (I) or copper (II) chloride.

[TYRONEEZEKIEL]

Copper II chloride I'm pretty sure.

[psyco_1322]

Just skip a step and add some perfectly good and usable copper oxide to HCl.

 

I always made copper chloride by letting some copper set in HCl, no H2O2, then after its turns to a dark solution, boil it dry. I'm sure that's a horrible method with crappy yields.