Pure brochantite was prepared at 60 ~ from 0.5 M copper(ll) sulphate and sodium hydroxide solutions at pH 8.0. The decomposition products arising when it was heated at different temperatures were identified using X-ray diffraction analysis and infrared spectroscopy. Dolerophanite, CuO.CuSO4, which is invariably reported to be formed during the thermal decomposition of brochantite (of both synthetic and mineral origins), was not formed The higher pH conditions adopted here for the precipitation are probably responsible for the above mechanism of decomposition. As the above results show a large variance and as the compositions of the basic suiphates formed depend markedly on the experimental conditions used for the preparation, it was felt that some systematic work had to be undertaken on this compound for a complete understanding of its thermal behaviour. This paper
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