I got this from a journal but they stirred the thing for 16 hours - which seemed like a long time so i decided to try it in the trusty old microwave
and cut the time down to 1 hour. I wish i had the equipment to see what happened to the particle size. Anyhow, the article reckoned the size was about
4nm. Seems reasonable. The result is pretty cool - it's air stable (doesn't oxidise) and stays in suspension for 2 months or more so ideal for an ink.
My next step is to collect more and concentrate it down as it is probably about 1% copper - not much - I need at least 10% by weight. So, the way to
do it. You need 1.5g of copper (II) chloride in 50 mL of deionised water, 8.5g of ascorbic acid in 50mL of deionised water and a microwave. I don't
have copper chloride so I made my own by reacting copper sulphate with sodium hydroxide and then adding hydrochloric acid and evaporating until i got
the crystals I wanted. Anyhow, It's good stuff and I think a possible route to your own conductive ink.
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