Raw materials in battery technology: Copper (Glossary)

Copper oxidises in air and is attacked by acids, it is thus not a precious metal. The soft, very tenacious and ductile material is the only metal with a reddish colour and thus the only coloured metal alongside gold. It is an excellent conductor for heat and electricity. Copper can be easily melted, cast, shaped in a cold and hot state and soldered, but it is not very easy to weld.

In 2001 the world's production of copper was 13.7 million tons the world copper reserves are estimated at 600 million tons. A large amount of the copper production is covered by copper recycling, in Germany approx. 45 %. Important manufacturing countries are the USA, CIS states, Japan and Chile.

Copper is a vital trace element for humans, plants and animals, metallic copper is harmless for humans.

Copper is an alloying constituent of bronzes. As a heat transfer medium it plays an important role in the construction of machinery, vehicles and apparatus. Copper is used on account of its resistance and decorative effect in house building (e.g. roofs and pipes). Because of its high electrical conductivity copper is the most important metal in electrical engineering. More than half the copper that is produced is used in this sector.

In battery technology copper is used predominantly as an electrical conductor, more rarely as a material for Electrodes. The first battery ever, the Voltaic pile, was built with a copper cathode (anode of zinc). Copper oxide was hereby reduced to metallic copper. The predecessor of the Nickel-cadmium accumulator , the Lalande-Chaperon battery, was also a zinc-copper oxide system.

Some key technical data

Chemical symbol: Cu

Atomic number: 29

Relative atomic mass: 63.55

Oxidation numbers: +2, +1

Density: 8.92 g/cm³

Melting point: 1,083°C

Boiling point: 2,596°C

Specific electrical resistance: 1.7

	See also:
		Glossary overview Copper price (day chart)

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