how do you turn copper sheet green, ie oxidised.?

Answer 1

Just leave it out and let the air get busy. The copper will turn green all on it's own. The Statue of liberty is green because it was made of copper.

Answer 2

The green colour on the copper is copper carbonate and is commonly called verdigris. The answer above suggesting vinegar may work as it may produce a thin coat of copper acetate which would be turned into copper carbonate by the carbon dioxide in the air. The problem is that copper is an unreactive metal and so the process would still be slow. Any strong acid that would attack the copper quickly (such as nitric acid) would produce a blue colour but it would dissolve in rain water.

Answer 3

The green colour is usually copper chloride, and in decorative situations (architecture, gardening) it's often called 'verdigris' (although this name should properly mean Copper (II) Acetate, which is a traditional paint pigment).

You can promote the reaction using any solution with a lot of chlorine in it, such as a chlorine-based bleach (some are based on Sodium Hydroxide, which wouldn't work) or Saline (salt) Solution.

Copper plumbing pipes can turn green because of the Chlorine that is used to sterilise drinking water.

Rain water naturally 'patinates' copper, because of the CO2 that dissolves in it as it falls (water + carbon dioxide = carbonic acid). The result is a variable blue-green, because the reaction produces Copper Carbonate, which is the pigment found in both Malachite and Azurite. It's difficult to produce this effect, because acidic solutions tend to 'scour' the surface (cleaning the copper) unless it can be left undisturbed long enough for a tough (thick) layer of the coating to build up.

Answer 4

The green color is called a Patina finish and is most commonly used for architectural purposes. As said by all the others, it's what happens when the copper is exposed to chloride. There is enough chloride in our water for the process to take place over time, but there are also several methods that are much more cost effective to "flash patina" copper if needed/desired. One of the most popular is to expose it to very high heat. Have you ever gotten a really old penny that almost looks like it's had battery acid spilled on it? That's a penny that's probably been exposed to a lot of weather, maybe even someone left it at the beach and the salt water helped the process.

Answer 5

Not sure if such can be done by a chemical process but I do know that if copper is exposed to the air, it will oxidise naturally in time. If you have ever seen a green roof, particularly in London, such as on certain churches and important buildings, you'll know what I mean, they're bright green in colour indicating that they are copper.

Answer 6

There are a couple ways. Obviously you could leave it outside. But that tends to take years. You can also look into a solution which will oxidize it quickly. I saw such a spray on a TV show once, but do not know what was in it. I suspect it was primarily bleach. Do a quick search and you should be able to find it.

Answer 7

The green coating on copper is a patina. The process of creating the patina is patination. Many chemicals can be used in patination depending on what color you want.

I suggest you google "patination".

Hope this helps!

Answer 8

try plain yogurt on it that should work.

Answer 9

vinegar..or any acid