Innovative environmentally friendly technology for copper(II) hydroxide production

Abstract

The innovative laboratory procedure for the synthesis of copper(II) hydroxide in the form of the aqueous suspension was developed. The reaction mechanism consists of the reaction between copper(II) sulphate pentahydrate and sodium carbonate by successive ion exchange of carbonate ions with the hydroxide ones in a multistep process. Production of copper(II) carbonate and sodium sulphate by reacting of copper(II) sulphate with sodium carbonate was followed by addition of sodium hydroxide solution whereby the product, copper(II) hydroxide, was obtained by releasing an equimolar amount of sodium carbonate. It was determined that, the equimolar reaction of copper(II) sulphate and sodium hydroxide lead to the maximal reactants exploitation. Sodium phosphate, formed in the final process stage by addition of 10 % phosphoric acid solution, acted as a copper(II) hydroxide stabilizer. High yield of the product was obtained by optimizing the synthesis parameters: reaction time, molar ratio of reactants and the reaction temperature. The obtained product was formulated to obtain a commercial product, which is used as a fungicide and bactericide.