Introduction:
Hailing from an Indian background, I grew accustomed to finding interesting artifacts and items in my house that none of my friends’ houses have. It was sort of a habit of mine to implore my mother when she finds more unique Indian artifacts to fill our house with. When I asked my mother why we suddenly switched to using a big copper vessel to store our water instead of the old Brita Water Filter pitcher we used, she told me, “Before the invention of steel and other metals were used to make water containers, our ancestors used copper vessels to cook, store water, and store food. Copper is good for our health and improves the longevity of life as it contains great medicinal values.” Although her explanation was vague, I deduced that storing water in copper vessels lets the contents of the vessel retain copper ions and allows the drinker to ingest its copper ions as well, however, I pondered the accuracy of the “fact”. After some research, I found that many scientists and modern sciences support this theory, and one of these scientific explanations was given by Ariane Lang, BSc, MBA. She writes, “Storing water in copper containers seems to have antibacterial properties capable of killing harmful bacteria.” Backed by Ancient Indian and modern medicine, this practice influenced me to use the process of electrolysis to electroplate copper onto three different metals to find out whether this ancient tradition can be utilized to date. I also found that copper vessels can be used to medically aid women, vegans, and vegetarians all around the world. Around 30% of menstruating women may be deficient as well due to monthly blood loss, and up to 42% of young, pregnant women may be deficient as well. (Bjarnadottir 2019) Additionally, vegetarians and vegans have an increased risk of deficiency because they consume only non-heme iron, which is not absorbed as well as heme iron. As a vegetarian woman, I was curious to find out whether this practice will help me alleviate my menstrual cramps and chose to take this learning opportunity to educate myself and others on the benefits and accuracy of copper vessel usage.
Background:
A metal deposition onto a product made of a different metal is called electroplating. During this process, the cations in a solution are reduced by an electric current to produce a thin layer on a conductive material by running from the anode to the cathode. The two nodes are submerged in a salt solution, allowing electricity to flow across the circuit. The metal ions are oxidized by the direct current provided at the anode, allowing them to dissolve in the solution. The cathode
plates the conductive
material with the metal
ions as well as reduces the
dissolved ions.
Electroplating is a valuable
method as it provides very
precise surface
composition control.
Controlling operational factors like electric current and mixing rate can adjust the thickness of the deposited layer (of ions in solution). I chose to plate these metals with copper, because of their importance in our daily lives. Although this experiment revolves around copper, it is incredibly important to select the correct types of metals for the experiment to be successful. According to Todd Helmenstine, “The activity series of metals is an empirical tool used to predict products in displacement reactions and reactivity of metals with water and acids in replacement reactions and ore extraction. It can be used to predict the products in similar reactions involving a different metal.” Thus, I checked to see what metals are above Copper in the Activity series.
Wanting to find the best metal to electroplate copper onto, I chose to vary the metals that I was selecting in terms of least to highest reactivity. Therefore, I chose the metals Tin, Zinc, and Aluminum. However, if the metals used to electroplate have low boiling and melting points, they will not be able to withstand the heat that is normally used to weld metals to create vessels and the direct heat that is used when cooking. According to the editorial staff of Fine Dining Lovers, a culinary blog, the heat that is needed to cook lies between 93.333°C and 204.444°C.
With these temperature boundaries in mind, I chose to vary the metals’ melting points as well. Therefore, the three criterions that the metals were weighed against were: electron affinity, boiling point, and melting point.
Aluminum (Al): Melting point 660.32°C Boiling point: 2,519°C Electron af inity: 42.5 kJ/mol
Zinc (Zn): Melting point: 419.53°C Boiling point: 906.9°C Electron af inity: 0 kJ/mol
Tin (Sn): Melting point: 231.93 °C Boiling point: 2,602 °C Electron af inity: 107.3 kJ/mol
As the three metals meet the melting point and boiling point requirements, I was confident that the metals will not be a matter to worry about. I also included electron affinity as this is an important factor that pertains to the voltmeter used in the electrolysis process to transfer the copper ions onto the metals. I was curious as to how it would impact the electroplating of copper onto the metals so I varied these metals according to this requirement as well.
Investigation:
Research Question: Does the amount of Copper (Cu) deposited on Zinc (Zn), Tin (Sn), and Aluminum (Al) vary when electroplated?
Hypothesis: Aluminum, Zinc, and Tin can be electroplated with copper successfully but based on the electron affinity, configuration, and boiling & melting points, Zinc would result in the most amount of copper deposited.
Independent variable: Types of metal used to electroplate – Aluminum (Al), Tin (Sn), and Zinc (Zn) (measured in grams)
Dependent variable: Amount of copper deposited on the metals chosen (measured in grams)
Control: Voltage of battery, Copper Sulfate Solution, and experiment environment
Impact of Uncertainty: The balance scale used to measure the weights of the metals was known to have an uncertainty of 0.01g.
Risk Assessment:
Safety Issues: To minimize the risk of any skin irritations, gloves were worn. There were no notable ethical issues to be taken into account. Keeping the environment in mind, At the end of the experiment, the Copper Sulfate solution, copper-plated metals, etc used were disposed of according to MSDS requirements.
Experiment 1
Materials Required:
– 1.5-volt D battery with the battery holder (for power supply)
– Two alligator clip leads or insulated wire
– Beaker or glass (250-ml beaker is recommended or a similar glass size)
– Copper strip (pure copper)
– Copper sulfate solution – 0.5 M concentration 100 mL – Copper electrode (or coil of copper wire)
– Aluminum, Tin, and Zinc metal strips
– Safety equipment
–
Procedure:
1. Prepare the Aluminum, Tin, and Zinc strips for copper-plating by cleaning them with a thin layer of toothpaste or soap and water. Dry it off on a paper towel.
2. Stir copper sulfate into some hot water in a beaker until no more will dissolve. Your solution should be dark blue. Let it cool.
3. Use one alligator clip and attach the copper electrode to the positive terminal of the battery (this is now the anode) and then attach the metal strip to the negative terminal (now called the cathode).
4. Partially suspend the metal strip in the solution by wrapping the wire lead loosely around a pencil and placing the pencil across the mouth of the beaker. The alligator clip should not touch the solution.
5. Place the copper strip/mass of copper into the solution, making sure it doesn’t touch the metal strip. The plating solution level is now below the alligator clip. The copper strip will produce a path for conductivity. An electrical circuit has now formed with the positive electrodes & negative electrodes and an electrical current is flowing.
6. Leave the circuit running for 20-30 minutes, or until you are happy with the amount of copper on the metal strip.
Table 1: The table above shows how much copper was deposited onto three metals, Aluminum, Zinc, and Tin in the five trials that were conducted. These weights were taken in increments of 5 minutes and were measured in grams.
Table 2: The table above is showing the average mass of each type of metal which was calculated to show overall changes in copper deposition from the original metals’ mass.
From the averages of the Electroplating trials, it can be concluded that Zinc nearly doubled its initial weight due to the displacement of Zinc for Copper deposition. Aluminum and Tin have also been displaced for Copper deposition but significantly less than Zinc. It can also be observed that the Electroplating process plateaus around the 20 min mark for Aluminum and Tin, while the reaction is continuing for Zinc at that point.
Graph 1: The graph above shows the average difference in mass of the metal strips from their initial mass during the Copper Electroplating process plotted overtime
Upon conducting the electroplating multiple times, it can be deduced that the most amount of Copper has been deposited on the Zinc strip. Although Aluminum and Tin have also demonstrated Copper deposition, both of those metals were not nearly as displaced as Zinc in this experiment. After Zinc, it can be deduced that Tin displaced Copper slightly more than Aluminum. Overall, this study allows us to conclude that Zinc is the best metal to Electroplate Copper efficiently.
Experiment 2
Overview:
When it comes to sustainability and practicality of Electroplated Copper on industrially and domestically utilized vessels, which metal is the best for everyday use? This second experiment will identify which metal is more stable when electroplated with Copper, this is relevant for daily utility because electroplating must not deteriorate over time to generate detrimental health impacts. I decided to test whether regular tap
Figure 2: This water quality test kit was utilized to inspect tap water for pH, Water Hardness, & Dissolved Copper Concentratio
Procedure:
1. Measure 100 mL of tap water in 3 different beakers and submerge the three copper-plated metal strips into the water and set aside for 24 hours
2. After 24 hours, use the pipette to spread the water onto the test strip for 5 seconds.
3. After 5 seconds, dry off the test strip and set it aside for 5 minutes
4. Using the drinking water quality test scale, deduce the dissolved copper concentration, water hardness, and pH.
Figure 3: The copper-plated metal strips submerged in three beakers of tap water used along with the water quality test to deduce their water quality properties.
Therefore, the data would have been different and poses a problem when coming to a conclusion. Another limitation that could have affected the results of this experiment would be the consideration of qualitative data along with the quantitative data. In this experiment, this may have been a problem in Tin and Zinc experiments.
Table 3: The table above displays the results from three water quality measures that were conducted using electroplated metal strips placed in tap water.
Interpretation:
After conducting the Electroplating of Copper onto the three different metal strips, another experiment was conducted to analyze the impacts of Electroplating when contacted with tap water. This experiment primarily looks at three main quality measures; pH, Water Hardness, and Dissolved Copper Concentration. As shown in the results above, the pH of the tap water within all three beakers has increased to a neutral pH. The water hardness had increased in all the beakers with the electroplated metal strips. Interestingly, the Zinc strip had the highest water hardness among the three metals observed. Finally, when looking at the Dissolved Copper Concentration, it was observed that all three metal strips that were electroplated released Copper ions back into the tap water.
Evaluation:
Before coming to a conclusion, some strengths and weaknesses of this experiment need to be discussed. The experiment tested a wide range of locally sourced materials, meaning that various solutions for resolving the current water quality concerns were examined. In addition, the experiment had low uncertainty of the apparatus used as it was only ±0.1 mg/L, which was the calibrated measurement scale. This means that the certainty and accuracy of the data collected from this experiment is validated.
Strengths:
Two experiments were conducted to affirm the already scientifically-backed hypothesis that water exposed to copper will retain copper ions and have beneficial effects on the consumer’s health. These experiments tested various metals that were researched thoroughly in terms of melting and boiling points, electron affinity, and their position on the activity series which helped in deciding whether they are the right fit for the experiment. The experiment looked at a variety of criteria of metals, which meant it looked at a variety of strategies for dealing with water quality issues. Furthermore, because the calibrated measurement scale was only 0.01 g, the experiment had a minimal level of uncertainty in the balance utilized. This signifies that the data collected has been verified for its accuracy and precision.
Weaknesses:
However, some errors and inconsistencies need to be taken into account in order to come to an accurate conclusion. When the data was collected, the metal strips used to retain copper were not dry and their masses may have been inflated due to the copper sulfate solution content in them before taking their final
In conclusion, although Zinc had the greatest amount of copper deposited during the process of Electroplating conducted in experiment 1, the results of experiment 2 (Table 3) prove that due to other drinking water quality measures like pH, Water Hardness, and Dissolved Copper Concentration, the beaker of water with the copper-plated Zinc had a significant increase in water hardness which ended up being harmful to consume. This can be supported by the Zinc solution’s pH of 6.8, Water Hardness of 250, and Dissolved Copper Concentration of 1 from Table 3 which clearly shows that the exposure of the metal strip to the tap water increased these levels. Therefore when considering electroplating copper onto the metals, it is important to predict whether the metal strip used will have detrimental impacts on the tap water. However, the other metals, Tin and Aluminum did not yield similar results. Tin and Aluminum increased the water hardness in their solutions as well but they were increased to a point that was beneficial to consume.
Works Cited:
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https://www.thoughtco.com/activity-series-of-metals-603960#:~:te xt=The%20activity%20series%20of%20metals,reactions%20invol ving%20a%20different%20metal. Accessed 5 Apr 2022.
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