An Introductory-Level Experiment for the Electrochemical Recovery and Spectrophotometric Determination of Copper

Abstract

Procedures suitable for an introductory-level laboratory experiment were developed for the electrogravimetric determination of copper. The method involves deposition of the reduced metal onto the working electrode at low current levels. The electrolysis reaction is driven without the need for potentiometric control and the cathodic reduction of the metal proceeds to near thermodynamic completion. When separate cell compartments are used, purity of the recovered metal should also be high. These characteristics of electrolysis were confirmed by the electro gravimetric analysis of copper that yielded a recovery of 93.93 ± 5.74 percent. Purity of the recovered copper, determined through spectrophotometric methods, was shown to be 97.82 ± 3.24 percent.