Copper(I) Oxide Evaporation Material - Cu2O

Copper(I) oxide or cuprous oxide is the inorganic compound with the formula Cu2O. It is one of the principal oxides of copper. This red-coloured solid is a component of some antifouling paints. The compound can appear either yellow or red, depending on the size of the particles.  Copper(I) oxide is found as the reddish mineral cuprite.

Cu2O crystallizes in a cubic structure with a lattice constant al=4.2696 Å. The Cu atoms arrange in a fcc sublattice, the O atoms in a bcc sublattice. One sublattice is shifted by a quarter of the body diagonal. The space group is \scriptstyle Pn\bar, which includes the point group with full octahedral symmetry.

Cuprous oxide is commonly used as a pigment, a fungicide, and an antifouling agent for marine paints. Rectifier diodes based on this material have been used industrially as early as 1924, long before silicon became the standard. Copper(I) oxide is also responsible for the pink color in a positive Benedict's Test.