Structure and thermochemical reactivity of Cu(NH3)2CO3

The structure and atmosphere-dependent thermochemical reactivity of diammine copper carbonate, Cu(NH3)2CO3 has been investigated by means of combined thermoanalytical/mass spectrometric measurements, single crystal and powder X-ray diffraction studies as well as scanning electron microscopy. It could be shown that in reducing atmosphere a series of different organic volatile species as well as Cu° are formed. This observation is explained in terms of the structural vicinity of potential volatile agents in the parent material, i.e. NH3 and CO2, as well as the in situ formation of catalytically active solid products during the thermochemical degradation.