copper question

[jrayj]

Hi,

I put some small pieces of copper wire into hydrogen peroxide and let it set. The peroxide turned brown and I couldn't notice any corrosion of the copper. Any idea what this could be? I thought maybe copper oxide but the color doesn't match. Also I heated it before I let it set if this affects anything.

 

Thanks

[vedmecum]

hye . copper oxide will not definetly form because copper is not able to displace H from H2O as this is below in electrochemial series.

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hye . copper oxide will not definetly form because copper is not able to displace H from H2O2 as this is below in electrochemial series.

but i don't know the right ans.

[jdurg]

hye . copper oxide will not definetly form because copper is not able to displace H from H2O as this is below in electrochemial series.

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Merged post follows:

Consecutive posts merged

but i don't know the right ans.

 

Incorrect. In a solution of H2O2, there will be enough O2 generated that the oxidize the copper a bit. In addition, H2O2 itself is a fairly good oxidizer. It would probably help to know more about the H2O2 concentration used.

[jrayj]

I used a weak 3%. Can't find large amounts of the 30% at a reasonable price .

[Theophrastus]

First: Were you running a current through the wires? (sorry for asking a crucial but stupid question) However I tried this same experiment quite recently in water, and obtained the same product.

Second:What was the concentration of the peroxide solution, and why bother to do an electrolysis (essentially) When the oxygen formed by the peroxide will quickly be absorbed by hydrogen ions.

Third: What was the concentration of the peroxide?

General Thoughts?

[jrayj]

Not running current through the wires, is was 3% boiled down to half so it was 20 volume.

[Theophrastus]

Actually, I'm sad to say that the reason that people don't just boil down their peroxide to make rocket fuel quality concentrations, as that, the heat simply increases the peroxide's decomposition. It's likely that your resulting solution, based on how long you boiled it, remains at around 1-2%, due to the fact that just as the peroxide decreased, so did the amount of water. Sorry to spoil the fun...