News tagged with copper
Copper + love chemical = big sulfur stink
When Hiroaki Matsunami, Ph.D., at Duke set out to study a chemical in male mouse urine called MTMT that attracts female mice, he didn't think he would stumble into a new field of study.
Feb 06, 2012 |
4.3 / 5 (6) |
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Nanoparticles used to increase thermal properties of transformer oil
Rice University scientists have created a nano-infused oil that could greatly enhance the ability of devices as large as electrical transformers and as small as microelectronic components to shed excess heat.
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Feb 01, 2012 |
4.8 / 5 (4) |
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Study identifies a new way brain cells die in Alzheimer's disease
(Medical Xpress) -- A new study challenges conventional thinking about how brain cells die in Alzheimer’s disease. The findings demonstrate a previously unknown mechanism by which the cells die and will help lead researchers ...
Jan 20, 2012 |
5 / 5 (4) |
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Narrowest conducting wires in silicon ever made show the same current capability as copper
The narrowest conducting wires in silicon ever made – just four atoms wide and one atom tall – have been shown to have the same electrical current carrying capability of copper, according to a new ...
Jan 05, 2012 |
4.6 / 5 (13) |
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Plasmonic nanocrosses that heat up when illuminated can be used to kill cancer
Plasmonic nanoparticles are extremely sensitive to light, and even the tiniest amount can cause these particles to heat up. Scientists are now trying to use plasmonic nanoparticles in cancer therapy whereby ...
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Dec 23, 2011 |
5 / 5 (2) |
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Lead levels in drinking water spike when copper and lead pipes joined
Lead pipes once used routinely in municipal water distribution systems are a well-recognized source of dangerous lead contamination, but new research from Washington University in St. Louis suggests that the ...
Dec 15, 2011 |
5 / 5 (3) |
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Researchers invent a switch that could improve electronics
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have invented a new type of electronic switch that performs electronic logic functions within a single molecule. The incorporation of such single-molecule elements could enable ...
Dec 01, 2011 |
4.8 / 5 (8) |
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Kaneka, imec develop high-efficiency heterojunction silicon solar cells with copper electroplating
At the 21st International Photovoltaic Science and Engineering Conference, held on November 28 – December 2 in Fukuoka, Japan, Kaneka and imec present silver-free heterojunction silicon solar cells. The results were ...
Nov 28, 2011 |
5 / 5 (1) |
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Trouble lurks for Indonesia's 'last paradise'
Huts on stilts perch above the coral of the turquoise lagoon, hammocks awaiting a lazy siesta and sunset cocktails. The Indonesian archipelago of Raja Ampat is a modern-day garden of Eden. But for how long?
Nov 18, 2011 |
5 / 5 (2) |
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Researching graphene nanoelectronics for a post-silicon world
Copper's days are numbered, and a new study at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute could hasten the downfall of the ubiquitous metal in smart phones, tablet computers, and nearly all electronics. This is good ...
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Nov 10, 2011 |
4.9 / 5 (7) |
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World's smallest four-wheel-drive is a billionth of a meter (Update)
(PhysOrg.com) -- Reduced to the max: the emission-free, noiseless 4-wheel drive car, jointly developed by Empa researchers and their Dutch colleagues, represents lightweight construction at its most extreme. ...
Nov 09, 2011 |
4.8 / 5 (6) |
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High-voltage engineers create nearly 200-foot-long electrical arcs using less energy than before (Update)
Photos taken by the researchers show plasma arcs up to 60 meters long casting an eerie blue glow over buildings and trees at the High Voltage Laboratory at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand.
Nov 08, 2011 |
3.9 / 5 (43) |
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Explosive composite based on nanoparticles and DNA could be an energy source for embedded microsystems
A solid explosive with an energy density equivalent to that of nitroglycerine: this is the composite material produced by researchers at the Laboratoire d'Analyse et d'Architecture des Systemes (CNRS) in Toulouse, France, ...
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Nov 03, 2011 |
4 / 5 (1) |
2
Research: Graphene grows better on certain copper crystals
New observations could improve industrial production of high-quality graphene, hastening the era of graphene-based consumer electronics, thanks to University of Illinois engineers.
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Oct 27, 2011 |
4.9 / 5 (8) |
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Researchers create two-segment nanotubes with distinct semiconducting domains
(PhysOrg.com) -- A group of researchers working in Japan has devised a means of creating dual segmented nanotubes where each segment has separate and distinct semiconducting properties. The team describes ...
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Oct 21, 2011 |
5 / 5 (1) |
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Copper
Copper (pronounced /ˈkɒpər/) is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (Latin: cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is rather soft and malleable and a freshly-exposed surface has a pinkish or peachy color. It is used as a thermal conductor, an electrical conductor, a building material, and a constituent of various metal alloys.
Copper metal and alloys have been used for thousands of years. In the Roman era, copper was principally mined on Cyprus, hence the origin of the name of the metal as Cyprium, "metal of Cyprus", later shortened to Cuprum. There may be insufficient reserves to sustain current high rates of copper consumption. Some countries, such as Chile and the United States, still have sizable reserves of the metal which are extracted through large open pit mines.
Copper compounds are known in several oxidation states, usually 2+, where they often impart blue or green colors to natural minerals such as turquoise and have been used historically widely as pigments. Copper as both metal and pigmented salt, has a significant presence in decorative art. Copper 2+ ions are soluble in water, where they function at low concentration as bacteriostatic substances and fungicides. For this reason, copper metal can be used as an anti-germ surface that can add to the anti-bacterial and antimicrobial features of buildings such as hospitals. In sufficient amounts, copper salts can be poisonous to higher organisms as well. However, despite universal toxicity at high concentrations, the 2+ copper ion at lower concentrations is an essential trace nutrient to all higher plant and animal life. In animals, including humans, it is found widely in tissues, with concentration in liver, muscle, and bone. It functions as a co-factor in various enzymes and in copper-based pigments.
For more information about Copper, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
