Preparation of copper powder by glycerol process

A simple, least energy intensive, efficient, low temperature chemical process for the production of copper powder of narrow size distribution is described. It involves reduction of copper salts by glycerol under atmospheric conditions at a temperature below 240°C. The powders produced by this process have been characterized by X-ray diffraction, chemical composition, BET surface area analysis and scanning electron microscopy. The powder is well crystalline and contains oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen as impurity elements. The purity of the powder produced by the process depends on the starting compound of copper. The glycerol process using copper acetate as starting compound yields copper powder having a purity of 99.7%.