Copper compounds, mainly copper sulfate (pentahydrate, monohydrate and anhydrous), copper acetate, copper oxide and cuprous oxide, copper and cuprous chloride, copper chloride, copper oxides, copper nitrate, copper cyanide, copper fatty acids, copper naphthenate, etc., are widely used in various fields, such as agriculture and animal husbandry, industry, and health care.
The most widely used of these is copper sulfate, usually copper sulfate pentahydrate (CuSO4-5H2O), commonly known as orchid alum because of its blue color. It is also often the raw material for the production of many other salts.
The history of human application of steel compounds can be traced back to more than 5,000 years ago, found in the tombs of the ancient Egyptians have been using copper sulfate to do dyeing when the mordant (color retention decorative dyes), has been used until now.
According to the statistics, there are more than one hundred factories producing copper sulfate in the world, and the annual consumption of the world is about 200,000 tons, of which 3/4 is estimated to be used in agriculture and animal husbandry, and mainly used as fungicide.
In agriculture and animal husbandry, copper compounds are effective fungicidal pesticides for eliminating pests and diseases, and can control all diseases caused by molds or fungi. In addition to the direct use of copper sulfate for soaking seeds, a number of copper salt mixtures are frequently used in orchards and farmland. The most important ones are Bordeaux liquid (copper lime sulfate liquid) and Burgundy liquid (copper soda sulfate liquid), which are named after the famous French grape producing areas, as well as Paris green and fungicide.
It has been reported that more than 300 diseases that occur frequently in over a hundred crops can be controlled with copper fungicides. These crops include:
-Grapes, oranges, bananas, apples, pears, peaches, and a variety of other perennial fruit trees; and
-Cash crops such as coffee, rubber, cotton, sugar beets, etc.; and
-Cereals such as wheat, rice, corn, barley, oats, etc.; and
-Beans, tomatoes, potatoes, and lettuce, among others.
Copper is an essential micronutrient for maintaining healthy growth of crops and livestock. Usually, when the effective copper content in farmland soil is less than 2ppmm (1ppmm is one percent), crops will be due to a lack of copper and reduce yields, and in serious cases, even grain harvest, or when the effective copper content in pasture soil is less than 5ppmm, livestock will suffer from copper deficiency. At present, due to intensive high-yield operations, in the large number of fertilizers used in the absence of copper or very low copper content, resulting in land barrenness, so that the lack of copper is increasingly becoming a growing concern in the world. In order to correct and prevent copper deficiency, it is necessary to supplement with copper salts in time. They can be added directly or together with fertilizers rich in nitrogen and phosphorus; they can be used to improve the soil for a long period of time, or sprayed annually on the seedlings of crops. For livestock, in addition to improving pastures, copper salts can be mixed into feed or otherwise injected directly into livestock with symptoms of copper deficiency. Steel sulfate is also a growth aid for pigs and chickens, improving their appetite and food conversion. Mixing 0.1% copper sulfate in feed can significantly boost weight gain in pigs and broilers.
Copper ions have a strong disinfecting and sterilizing effect, which can prevent the prevalence of some common livestock diseases. For example: a small amount of copper in water (less than lppm) can eliminate the water reproduction of mollusks such as to lose, snails and snails, these mollusks are the host of schistosomiasis, and thus can prevent the emergence of hepatic schistosomiasis which is easy to appear in tropical and temperate animals. Copper sulphate can also be used to disinfect pens to prevent the spread of foot rot in cattle and sheep, as well as swine dengue and bovine dysentery.
In addition, obnoxious green algae contamination in ponds, paddy fields, canals and rivers and lakes can be eliminated by adding copper salts. Copper salts can be used as an anti-mold preservative in the storage of grains, fruits and vegetables. One easy way to do this is to wrap them in paper soaked in copper salts.
In industry, copper compounds have a wide range of applications and are used to a greater or lesser extent in almost every industry, some examples of which are given below.
Copper sulphate is commonly used as a dyeing agent in the printing and dyeing process to improve the permanence of the luster and resistance to washing, and is widely used in the textile and leather industries .
Copper compounds are colored in orchid, green, red and black and can be used as colorants for glass, ceramics, cement and enamel. They are also the composition of some hair dyes. In the fireworks add copper nitrate hair green light, and so on.
Adding copper compounds of paint has the effect of anti-seawater biofouling.
Some organic compounds of copper are effective preservatives for pulp, wood, wood products and canvas and other fabrics.
Some copper compounds are rubber, oil and man-made fiber production process of important chemical agents, catalytic, purification and so on.
Copper sulfate electrolyte is used for copper plating, production of electrolytic copper foil and copper purification.
In the mining industry, copper sulfate is used as an activator for flotation of minerals such as lead, zinc, aluminum and gold.
Copper ions can disinfect and sterilize, sanitation and epidemic prevention. For example, it can kill germs such as Escherichia coli and dysentery that are easy to breed in the water, remove mollusks such as slugs and snails that spread schistosomiasis in the water, and mosquito larvae that spread malaria and other disease-carrying bodies. It can also be used in swimming pools to prevent green algae contamination and foot fungus transmitted through the floor.
Copper compounds can treat certain diseases. Sulfates have long been used in some Western countries to treat lung disease and mental disorders; in some African and Asian countries they are used to treat ulcers and skin diseases. Copper-containing medicines are currently under development.
