1. News

Cuprous oxide is one of the two stable oxides of copper

If you are looking for high-quality products, please feel free to contact us and send an inquiry, email: brad@ihpa.net



Overview of cuprous oxide Cuprous oxide, the chemical formula is Cu2O, is monovalent copper oxide, a bright red powder solid, almost insoluble in water, in acidic solution disproportionation into copper and copper elemental, in the wet air gradually oxidized into black copper oxide. Cuprous oxide is mainly used in the manufacture of ship bottom antifouling paint (used to kill lower Marine animals), insecticides, and various copper salts, analytical reagents, red glass, but also used in the preparation of copper plating and copper plating alloy solution.
It is disproportionated to copper in an acidic solution, indicating that the stability of copper ions in the solution is greater than that of copper ions. For example, cuprous oxide reacts with sulfuric acid to produce copper sulfate and copper.
Cu2O + H2SO4 – CuSO4 + Cu + H2O
Cuprous oxide reacts with nitric acid to form copper nitrate, nitric oxide and water
3Cu2O + 14HNO3(dilute)- 6Cu(NO3)2 + 2NO| + 7H2O
Cuprous oxide reacts with ammonia water and hydrogen halide acid to form complex and does not disproportionate into divalent copper and copper
Soluble in concentrated ammonia solution to form the colorless complex [Cu(NH3)2]+ (copper (I) ammonia ion), which is oxidized in the air to the blue [Cu(NH3)4(H2O)2]2+ (copper (II) hydrate ammonia ion)
Curious oxide soluble in hydrochloric acid to form HCUCL 2 (cuprous chloride complex), also soluble in sulfuric acid and nitric acid respectively form copper sulfate and copper nitrate.
What does cuprous oxide do?
Cuprous oxide is used as a pigment in ceramics to produce blue, red and green, and sometimes grey, pink or black glazes.
It was also mistakenly used as a dietary supplement in animal feed.
Due to low biological activity, the absorbable copper is negligible. It is also used for welding with copper alloys. Cuprous oxide is also used to make ship bottom antifouling paint (to kill lower Marine animals).
Used as bactericide, ceramic and enamel coloring agent, red glass dyeing agent, also used in the manufacture of various copper salts, analytical reagents and used in the electrical industry in the rectification electroplating, crop fungicide and rectifier materials. Cuprous oxide is also commonly used as a catalyst for organic synthesis.

Is cuprous oxide dangerous?
Toxic when swallowed. Skin can be harmful if absorbed through the skin. May cause skin irritation. Eye irritation may occur.
Acute toxicity: LD50:470mg /kg in mice; The abdominal meridian of mice was LD50:380 mg/kg; When the dust content of this product in the air reaches 0.22 ~ 14mg/m3, it will cause acute poisoning after working for 1 ~ 2h, which is manifested as headache, weakness, pharynx and conjunctiva redness, nausea, muscle pain, sometimes vomiting and diarrhea, fatigue, and elevated body temperature. After a day, the body temperature may return to normal, but weakness, headache, dizziness, rapid pulse count, and lymphocytosis remain. The gastric lavage with a certain concentration of K4[Fe(CN)6] solution and the taking of milk and other measures were taken for the acutely infected patients. The maximum allowable concentration in the air is 0.1mg/m3. You can wear a mask, dustproof glasses, wear protective work clothes, and take a shower after work.
Chronic poisoning is: the local skin, hair and conjunctiva of the workers who contact copper compounds sometimes become light yellow or black green, and there is dark red or magenta edge on the gingival. Irritating to the skin, dust irritates the eyes and causes corneal ulcers.
What’s the difference between CuO and Cu2O?
Cu2O is obtained by oxidizing the copper metal or by reducing a solution of copper (II) with sulfur oxide, while CuO is obtained by pyrometallurgical methods used to extract copper from ore. Many wood preservatives are made from copper. It is also used as a pigment to make different glazes.

How is cuprous oxide formed?
Usually, the direct oxidation method of metal copper: the metal copper is suspended in the vertical tubular electric furnace with platinum wire, in the nitrogen atmosphere containing 1%(volume fraction) oxygen, heated at 1000 for 24h to get cuprous oxide. Or the chemical calculation of metal copper and copper oxide mixture is closed in a vacuum tube, heated at 1000 for 5h to make its reaction to getting cuprous oxide. The order of forming oxide phase from copper through thermal oxidation is as follows: Cu-Cu + Cu2O-Cu2O-Cu2O + CuO-CuO. In addition, the formation of pure Cu2O occurs at about 200degC, while the formation of CuO begins at 300degC to 1000degC.
Cuprous oxide can also be produced by the dry process.
Dry method: The copper powder is mixed with copper oxide after impurity removal, and then sent into the calcining furnace to be heated to 800~900degC to be calcined into cuprous oxide. After taking it out, use a magnet to remove mechanical impurities, and then pulverize to 325 mesh. If copper sulfate is used as the raw material, first use an iron to reduce the copper in the copper sulfate. The subsequent reaction steps are the same as the method using copper powder as the raw material.

Why is cuprous oxide red?
Red copper is a reduced form of ordinary black copper oxide (CuO).In normal oxidizing roasting, it will be converted to the copper oxide form (CuO), which produces the normal green color in the glaze and glass. If reduced and sintered, it will retain its Cu2O structure to produce the typical copper-red color.
Aminopolysiloxane as Cu2O Photocathode Overlayer: Photocorrosion Inhibitor and Low Overpotential CO2-to-formate Selectivity Promoter
Photo-active P-type semiconductor based on Earth-rich elements represents photoactive P-type semiconductor of photoelectrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (PEC CO2RR). However, although light absorption and appropriate conduction edge energy, rapidly performs photo corrosion under PEC CO 2RR conditions. Here, the amine-functionalized polysiloxane (AF-PSI) is evaluated by the amine-CO2 adduct, and the amine-functionalized polysiloxane (AF-PSI) is evaluated as a protective layer and a PEC CE2RR promoter. Electrochemical experiments and X-ray diffraction indicate that light stability is significantly improved by AF-PSI cover. Electrolysis experiments under visible light illumination showed that the feed efficiency of the feed was 61% of the preferred production of 61%. Detailed in situ FTIR studies have shown that the amine group is combined with CO2 to form a urethane substance, and the method is to confirm the double effect of the AF-PSI layer by the favored cathode polarization.

(aka. Technology Co. Ltd.) is a trusted global chemical material supplier & manufacturer with over 12 years experience in providing super high-quality chemicals and Nanomaterials. Currently, our company has successfully developed a series of materials. The Cuprous oxide Cu2O powder produced by our company has high purity, fine particle size and impurity content. Send us an email or click on the needed products to send an inquiry.