If two copper atoms bond to an oxygen atom, it is cuprous oxide. Cupric oxide is considered "fully oxidized," while cuprous oxide is still in an active state. The key to cuprous oxide, the aspect that makes is extremely effective as a biocide, is that active state. It is still producing reactive oxygen species , highly reactive molecules. These are unstable molecules that cause damage to cell structures.
When it comes to killing bacteria, you want highly reactive molecules. They are very good at pulling away electrons, releasing free radicals, and generally smashing up their environment. In the case of a pathogen, they tear through membranes and destroy DNA-making machinery like a hot knife through butter. Copper needs to oxidize to reach the same level of toxicity, and while cupric oxide is oxidized, it's in a more stable oxidation state so it doesn't wreak the same havoc as his brother, cuprous oxide.
So why is cuprous oxide so toxic to bacteria and so safe for humans? It all comes down to size. A surface infused with cuprous oxide to a bacteria cell is a highly toxic landscape because of the ratio of Cu2O to bacteria cell. So a beautiful countertop or table to us is a toxic minefield to pathogens. Which is just the way we like it! Editor's Note: This post was originally published in July and has been updated for freshness, accuracy and comprehensiveness.
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Cuprous Oxide: What is the Difference? Copper A reddish-orange metal, copper is highly conductive to heat and electricity. The valence electron gets a bad reputation for his freeloading ways, but he can't help that he is out there all by himself with a weaker bond to the team.
Cupric oxide is an oxide of the chemical element copper, and it has the chemical formula CuO. Here, one copper atom associates one oxygen atom. It occurs as a black solid and is very stable. Besides, this compound naturally occurs as the mineral tenorite.
Also, it is a precursor for many copper containing compounds. Furthermore, we can produce this compound via pyrometallurgy on a large scale. It occurs in a monoclinic crystal system. Here, the copper atom associates with four oxygen atoms in a square planar configuration. Notably, it is a p-type semiconductor. Cuprous oxide is Cu 2 O while cupric oxide is CuO. A further difference between cuprous oxide and cupric oxide is that cuprous oxide occurs naturally as the reddish mineral, cuprite where cupric oxide occurs as the mineral tenorite.
The below infographic shows more comparisons related to the difference between cuprous oxide and cupric oxide. In brief, cuprous oxide and cuprous oxide are oxide compounds of copper metal. The key difference between cuprous oxide and cupric oxide is that cuprous oxide has a dark red colour whereas cupric oxide has a back colour.
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