Copper information, including Technical Data, Safety Data and its High Purity properties, research, applications and other useful facts are discussed below. Scientific facts such as the atomic structure, ionization energy, abundance on Earth, conductivity and thermal properties are included.
 Copper is a soft, reddish metal. Due to its high electrical conductivity, large amounts of copper are used by the electrical industry for wire. Of all pure metals, only silver has a higher electrical conductivity. Copper is also resistant to corrosion caused by moisture, making it a widely used material in pipes, coins, and jewelery. Copper is often too soft for its applications, so it is incorporated in numerous alloys. For example, brass is a copper-zinc alloy, and bronze is a copper-tin alloy. Copper sulfate (CuSO 4·H2O), also known as blue vitrol, is the most well-known copper compound. It is used as an agricultural poison, an algicide, and as a pigment for inks. Cuprous chloride (CuCl) is a powder used to absorb carbon dioxide (CO2). Copper cyanide (CuCN) is often used in electroplating applications. Copper is available as metal and compounds with purities from 99% to 99.9999% (ACS grade to ultra-high purity); metals in the form of foil, sputtering target, and rod, and compounds as submicron and nanopowder. The origin of the word copper comes from the Latin word 'cuprium' which translates as "metal of Cyprus". Cyprus, a Mediterranean island, was known as an ancient source of mined copper.
 Oxides are available in forms including powders and dense pellets for such uses as optical coating and thin film applications. Oxides tend to be insoluble. Fluorides are another insoluble form for uses in which oxygen is undesirable such as metallurgy, chemical and physical vapor deposition and in some optical coatings. Copper is available in soluble forms including chlorides, nitrates and acetates. These compounds are also manufactured as solutions at specified stoichiometries.
Copper is a Block D, Group 11, Period 4 element. The number of electrons in each of Copper's shells is 2, 8, 18, 1 and its electronic configuration is [Ar] 3d10 4s1. In its elemental form copper's CAS number is 7440-50-8. The copper atom has a radius of 127.8 .pm and it's Van der Waals radius is 140.pm. Copper is an essential trace element in animals and plants, but in excess copper is toxic. All elemental metals, compounds and solutions may be synthesized in ultra high purity (e.g. 99.999%) for laboratory standards, advanced electronic, thin fillm deposition using sputtering targets and  evaporation materials, metallurgy and optical materials and other high technology applications. Information is provided for stable (non-radioactive) isotopes. Organo-Metallic Copper compounds are soluble in organic or non-aqueous solvents. See Analytical Services for information on available certified chemical and physical analysis techniques including MS-ICP, X-Ray Diffraction, PSD and Surface Area (BET) analysis.
Copper was first discovered by Early Man.
Abundance. The following table shows the abundance of copper and each of its naturally occurring isotopes on Earth along with the atomic mass for each isotope.
The following table shows the abundance of Copper present in the human body and in the universe scaled to parts per billion (ppb) by weight and by atom:
Safety Data and Biological Role. The safety data for copper metal, nanoparticles and its compounds can vary widely depending on the form. For potential hazard information, toxicity, and road, sea and air transportation limitations, such as DOT Hazard Class, DOT Number, EU Number, NFPA Health rating and RTECS Class, please see the specific material or compound referenced in the left margin. Copper compounds have an essential biological role in all life, and are a key components of redox enzymes and hemocyanin. Ionization Energy. The ionization energy for copper (the least required energy to release a single electron from the atom in it's ground state in the gas phase) is stated in the following table:
Conductivity. As to copper's electrical and thermal conductivity, the electrical conductivity measured as to electrical resistivity @ 20 ºC is 1.67 μΩcm and its electronegativities (or its ability to draw electrons relative to other elements) is 1.9. The thermal conductivity of copper is 401 W m-1 K-1. Thermal Properties. The melting point and boiling point for copper are stated below. The following chart sets forth the heat of fusion, heat of vaporization and heat of atomization.
Recent Research & Development for Copper |
Cuivre 
Kupfer 
Rame 
Cobre 
Cobre 
Koppar | Formula | Atomic Number | Molecular Weight | Electronegativity (Pauling) | Density | Melting Point | Boiling Point | Vanderwaals radius | Ionic radius | Energy of first ionization |
| Cu | 29 | 63.546 g.mol -1 | 1.9 | 8.9 g.cm-3 at 20 °C | 1083 °C | 2595 °C | 140.pm nm | 0.096 nm (+1) ; 0.069 nm (+3) | 745.49 kJ.mol-1 |
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