I discovered,not too long ago that I can prepare a pretty reasonable amount of CuCl by electrolysis of NaCl using copper electrodes by using a low
voltage of about 1.5 volts...low voltage means low rate but higher yield. This process is now the source of Copper(1) chloride in my lab. Both
electrodes are made of Cu and the Cathode and the anode must be reasonably separated to prevent mixing of the CuCl formed at the anode with the Cu2O
formed at the cathode. I was very surprised to see this occur and i think the Cu-Cl bond in copper(1)chloride is mainly covalent. Thinking This way,
using a low voltage, the rate of Cl formation is low ensuring that a single atom of Cl reacts with an atom of Cu to form CuCl. CuCl is precipitated at
the base of the cell. From my observations, A higher voltage favours formation of CuCl2 which eventually reacts with some OH- to form CuCl2...
Has anybody tried this? What were your observations? |