Electrolytic copper refining cell

[Shark]

Or, heat copper to a low red glow then add it to sulfuric acid.

 

[Ayham Hafez]

Why are you determined to use nitric? If you do you need to figure out how to separate copper nitrate from copper sulfate. Have you considered oxidizing your copper first, before sulfuric usage? Once it turns that greenish color then add it to sulfuric. Or look for copper sulfate in other forms. Here it is used to kill roots in septic systems and can be found in most home repair stores. Reading the ingredients in home use chemicals can be a real eye opener at times.

Here is an idea, make a gold stripping cell and run it with no gold. If it heats up sulfuric will put copper into solution.

I thought about getting copper oxide by oxidizing copper while melting pure copper, then make shots then dissolve in dilute sulphuric acid, I did it before by mistake since I melted an old copper powder without adding carbon as a flux.


Also I have another option by producing copper oxide by electrolysis using NaCl electrolyte, after collecting the copper oxide powder then heat them till convert to copper 2 oxide then dissolve in dilute sulphuric acid.


But I believe I will get better ideas if I wait more

 

[Ayham Hafez]

Or, heat copper to a low red glow then add it to sulfuric acid.

Hmmm, if heating will oxidize all copper elements that will be a very good idea, but I think heating copper under the melting point will only oxidize its surface.

 

[Shark]

Hmmm, if heating will oxidize all copper elements that will be a very good idea, but I think heating copper under the melting point will only oxidize its surface.

I think you just need to get it started, as with burning it.
Like AP does, once it has copper in HCl, it becomes AP and attacks copper quicker. Not sure it will work with copper and sulfuric but it is worth a try. And it uses fewer chemicals.

 

[Shark]

I have really got to get away from using the term ,"AP".

 

[Ayham Hafez]

I think you just need to get it started, as with burning it.
Like AP does, once it has copper in HCl, it becomes AP and attacks copper quicker. Not sure it will work with copper and sulfuric but it is worth a try. And it uses fewer chemicals.

I read it before, copper sulpate can't react with copper as copper chloride do، so copper sulphate will not oxidize any copper.

 

[Barstool miner]

I bow to your superior knowledge. If a couple of drops of H2O2 is to expensive. One could use a combination of (1) Battery charger, (2) Battery Acid,
(3) Copper Anode, and (4 ) an Inert Cathode. To make Copper Sulfate solution

A Battery Charger ALWAYS produces Direct Current ( DC ).
I appologise to this forum as I assume that Members at least have a Rudementry Knowledge
of Chemistry and Electricity, I can now asess that some members are seriously lacking this Skill . I will cotinue Lurking but will discontinue contibuting to this forum .

 

[4metals]

I will cotinue Lurking but will discontinue contibuting to this forum .

This, to me, is a loss to the forum. I hope you reconsider.

 

[Ckbouda]

Hallo is CuSO4 and CuSO4 pentahydrate the same?and if not what's the difference?can i use CuSO4 pentahydrate to make solution for copper electorate?

 

[Yggdrasil]

Hallo is CuSO4 and CuSO4 pentahydrate the same?and if not what's the difference?can i use CuSO4 pentahydrate to make solution for copper electorate?

The Pentahydrate is the same.
They have just included the crystalline water content in the formula.
One can dehydrate the crystals and it will become a white? powder in stead of blue crystals.

 

[Martijn]

Hallo is CuSO4 and CuSO4 pentahydrate the same?and if not what's the difference?can i use CuSO4 pentahydrate to make solution for copper electorate?

The blue crystals are the pentahydrate. It contains 5 water molecules.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper(II)_sulfate

I thought about getting copper oxide by oxidizing copper while melting pure copper, then make shots then dissolve in dilute sulphuric acid, I did it before by mistake since I melted an old copper powder without adding carbon as a flux.


Also I have another option by producing copper oxide by electrolysis using NaCl electrolyte, after collecting the copper oxide powder then heat them till convert to copper 2 oxide then dissolve in dilute sulphuric acid.


But I believe I will get better ideas if I wait more

I collect my copper sulfate by converting spent acids with sulfuric, evaporating the sulfuric cell acid and rinse water to separate salts by repeated crystallisation, dissolving and concentrating by evaporating and crystsllising again.

Then copper oxides and carbonates dissolve fast in sulfuric. So i have a bucket of copper scrap and powder that gets rinsed with spent sulfuric by filling and draining, and leaving it exposed to the air in between rinses to let it oxidize.
A lot of work. Buying copper sulfate will surely be more economic, but I'm experimenting to recover the sulfuric from the H2SO4 and I use spent sulfuric for other purposes in recovery.
My leeching buckets and crystals:
The lighter crystals are trihydrates and anhydrous crystals mixed, as the sulfuric was strong after evaporating.
I have a post about crystalizing and purifying CuSO4 from the sulfuric cell electrolyte:
https://goldrefiningforum.com/threads/recycling-copper-sulfate-electrolyte.30534/

Other salts precipitate out sooner in my experience and you can collect CuSO4, redissolve and concentrate again to purify.

The crystals on wires in my other post were just for fun and making a nice looking crystal.

Martijn.