PREPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF POROUS COPPER POWDER BY THERMAL DECOMPOSITION OF COMPLICATED COPPER OXALATE

Based on Thermogravimetric and Differential thermal analysis (TGA-DTA), porous copper powder is prepared by thermal decomposition of complicated copper oxalate. The effects of various conditions on the morphology, crystalline grain size and specific surface area of copper powder were investigated, including temperature, duration, mixing ratio of nitrogen and hydrogen. Furthermore, composition and morphologies of the products were characterized by Xray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and BET adsorption isotherm. It is found that porous copper powder was produced under optimum conditions. The specific surface area is over 6.74 m(2).g(-1), and average pore size in particles is about 30.3 rim. After comparison of SEM images, the final product Cu well inherits the morphology of the precursor, thus a mechanism of in-situ decomposition is proposed.