Purification of Copper

• Copper metal is readily extracted by roasting copper ores malachite (impure CuCO3) and copper pyrites (CuFeS2) to obtain
• Impure copper was at the anode and pure copper was at the cathode
• Aqueous copper(II) sulphate was the electrolyte
• At the anode, metals more active than copper are oxidised to their cations and remain as cations and must be removed as they
• Copper is oxidised to Copper(II), while metals less reactive than copper are not oxidised but instead fall to the bottom of the cell and are removed through filtration of the
• The impurities are mainly Ag and Au and are called the anode
• At the cathode, copper ions are reduced to copper metal (almost 100% pure).

Cu2+ (aq) + Cu (s) -> Cu (s) + Cu2+ (aq)