Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Making Copper Nitrate and Sulfate

symboom - 17-11-2011 at 16:18

does these react with copper hydroxide

sulfur dioxide being oxidized by copper hydroxide
SO2 + Cu(OH)2 > CuSO4 + H2O
unbalanced

NO2 + Cu(OH)2 > Cu(NO3)2 + H2O
unbalanced

3NO2 + H2O → 2HNO3 + NO

also does the NO react with the copper hydroxide
will the copper hydroxide oxidize the NO gas
to copper nitrate



do these reactions work without having the acids

[Edited on 18-11-2011 by symboom]

ScienceSquirrel - 17-11-2011 at 16:37

Copper sulphate is readily available from a lot of suppliers almost everywhere and it is a good material to start to make other copper compounds from.
You can also buy copper carbonate and oxide from pottery suppliers and nitric acid from hydroponic suppliers.
Using these readily available materials and published lab procedures and adapations you can make a lot of copper salts and complexes.
Do some of the known stuff and then start on speculative reactions.

symboom - 17-11-2011 at 17:26

i already have the salts copper nitrate (online) and copper sulfate (99% pure hardware store).
im wanting to explore the reactions.

bbartlog - 17-11-2011 at 17:49

Copper hydroxide isn't much of an oxidizing agent, and anyway in order for it to oxidize something, it would have to be reduced. That said, I don't know whether copper sulfite (logically, the initial product of a reaction between Cu(OH)2 and SO2) is stable. Maybe there is disproportionation which results in some of the copper being reduced in order for the sulfite to be oxidized to sulfate.

ScienceSquirrel - 18-11-2011 at 04:21

There is a known reaction between sulphite and copper II in hot aqueous solution in the presence of halide ions to form copper I halides.
A lot will depend on your reaction conditions and the state of your copper hydroxide.
I suspect that a warm suspension of freshly precipitated copper hydroxide in the presence of oxygen as well will slowly react form the respective copper II salts with sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide.
What you may end up with is basic salts, that will not be soluble and will be of variable composition.

symboom - 23-11-2011 at 15:04

Sulfuric acid using copper electrocatalyst
copper sulfate solution and copper metal are placed in a cell with an inert counter electrode. The copper must be placed at the bottom flat.

First a positive potential is applied to the copper and enough current is applied that the copper bubbles oxygen gas. As this happens it will generate copper hydroxide. When the solution has a dense composition of copper hydroxide, sulfur dioxide is bubbled into the solution which will generate additional copper sulfate and various reduced copper forms including copper particles, copper (I) oxide nanopowders and copper sulfate. The current is continually applied to keep oxidizing the reduced copper through the action of the bubbles coming off the copper. Eventually the sulfur dioxide runs out, when it does the current is reversed, but applied at a much lower level so there is no bubbling at the copper surface. The oxidized copper ions are reduced at the surface and rebuild the surface of copper. Any other forms of reduced copper are reincorporated back into the surface. Eventually the solution will clear and leave nothing but pure water and sulfuric acid. Most of the solution is removed and the water boiled off to generate sulfuric acid. The remaining sulfuric acid is left in the cell and the water level refilled to the top.

The cycle is repeated by applying a positive potential to the copper and regenerating the copper hydroxide.

This process is extremely slow but is a clean way of making sulfuric acid.

ScienceSquirrel - 23-11-2011 at 15:20

Quote: Originally posted by symboom  
Sulfuric acid using copper electrocatalyst
copper sulfate solution and copper metal are placed in a cell with an inert counter electrode. The copper must be placed at the bottom flat.

First a positive potential is applied to the copper and enough current is applied that the copper bubbles oxygen gas. As this happens it will generate copper hydroxide. When the solution has a dense composition of copper hydroxide, sulfur dioxide is bubbled into the solution which will generate additional copper sulfate and various reduced copper forms including copper particles, copper (I) oxide nanopowders and copper sulfate. The current is continually applied to keep oxidizing the reduced copper through the action of the bubbles coming off the copper. Eventually the sulfur dioxide runs out, when it does the current is reversed, but applied at a much lower level so there is no bubbling at the copper surface. The oxidized copper ions are reduced at the surface and rebuild the surface of copper. Any other forms of reduced copper are reincorporated back into the surface. Eventually the solution will clear and leave nothing but pure water and sulfuric acid. Most of the solution is removed and the water boiled off to generate sulfuric acid. The remaining sulfuric acid is left in the cell and the water level refilled to the top.

The cycle is repeated by applying a positive potential to the copper and regenerating the copper hydroxide.

This process is extremely slow but is a clean way of making sulfuric acid.


It will also be horribly inefficient and expensive, eating more electricity per mole of sulphuric acid produced than you can imagine.
If you are paying the electricity bill you would not think about it for five minutes.

symboom - 25-11-2011 at 14:35

i use a solar panel for my electrical needs for my small like lab