Chinese scientists convert cheep copper to identical gold
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BEIJING– Chinese scientists have converted cheap copper into a material that is almost identical to gold. The material is expected to reduce the use of yellow, expensive metals in factories.
Professor Sun Jian and colleagues at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Liaoning, shot a copper target with a jet of hot, electrically charged argon gas.
The fast-moving ionised particles blasted copper atoms off the target. The atoms cooled down and condensed on the surface of a collecting device, producing a thin layer of sand.
According to SCMP link, the researchers put the material in a reaction chamber and used it as a catalyst to turn coal to alcohol, a sophisticated and difficult chemical process that only precious metals can handle efficiently.
