Effect of surface-active agents on the properties of a copper powder produced by the autoclave method

Conclusions

Carboxyl-containing water-soluble polymers have the strongest influence on the properties of copper powders and are the most effective in reducing their deposits on the inside reactor surface. The optimum SAA consumption rate is 0.003–0.007 g per 1 g of copper. Higher consumption rates intensify the flocculatton of powder particles and increase the carbon content of the powder, which is undesirable, since it makes the latter's subsequent processing more difficult. The carboxyl-containing substances currently produced by industry can be used as SAAs, but, because of their low carboxyl-group content (not more than 45–60%), powders produced in their presence become fairly severely contaminated with carbon owing to destruction of inert radicals. By suitable choice of type of carboxyl-containing SAA it is possible to vary the properties of powders in the following ranges: specific surface 0.02–0.18 m²/g, apparent density 0.9–2.9 g/cm³, mean particle size 20–42μm, and flowability 0–2.6 g/sec.