Thermogravimetric study of the oxidation kinetics of copper

Abstract

The oxidation kinetics of copper in air has been studied at various temperatures in the range 500 oC to 924 oC by thermogravimetry. In that range of temperatures the oxidation leads to copper I oxide and the system shows diffusion controlled kinetics according to Wagner's parabolic law. Plots of the square of the variation of the sample weight as a function o f time show a good linear correlation and allow the rate constant to be deternlined Experiments at various temperatures confirm that the system exhibits an Arrhenius behaviour and the frequency factor as well as the activation energy have been calculated