Copper (II) Oxide

Brief Overview

Copper(II) oxide or cupric oxide is another family of the copper and copper oxide compounds, together with copper(I) oxide. This material is a black, solid powder. As a mineral, it is known as tenorite. It is a product of copper mining and the precursor to many other copper-containing products and chemical compounds.

Manufacturing Process

In a large scale production, the copper ores are initially extracted then they are treated with an aqueous mixture of ammonia, ammonium carbonate, and oxygen to give copper(I) and copper(II) ammine complexes. Afterwards, the presence of steam decomposes the complexes and CuO is produced.

A simple method is by heating  copper in air between a temperature range of 300°C-800°C:

                                                                          2 Cu + O₂ → 2 CuO

Agrochemical Industry

Copper(II) oxide serves as an ingredient for wood preservatives, feed additive, and catalyst. It can also be an additional component to pesticides, fungicides, and other treatment of undesirable insects or pests.

Glass and Ceramics Industry

It is used as a pigment in ceramics to produce blue, red, and green, and sometimes gray, pink, or black glazes. For glass products, it serves as as optical glass polishing agent and imparts flux and abrasion resistance to glass fibers.

Metallurgy Industry

Moreover, copper(II) oxide can be used as a metallurgical and welding fluxes with other copper alloys.

Other Applications

Cupric oxide can also be found as a components in electrodes or batteries. Similar to cuprous oxide, it also serves as an antifouling agent for ship bottom paints. Cupric oxide may be found in over-the-counter vitamin-mineral supplements. Applications in other industries include cloud seeding, heat collecting surface in solar energy devices, and tar-reducer in tobaco smoke.