Formation of copper hydroxyl sulfates in CuSO4 solution by NaOH titration

Nanostructured copper hydroxyl salts have raised researchers' attention due to its potential application in photocatalysis. In this paper, copper hydroxyl sulfates were synthesized by titrating NaOH solution to CuSO4 solution with the suggested pH from modeling software Visual MINTEQ. Brochantite nanostructures was produced at the end point pH 5 and 6, meanwhile the mixture of brochantite and posnjakite was obtained at pH 10. These results show the usability of Visual MINTEQ in determining the operating parameter (pH) range for the particular crystal synthetizations. In addition, these crystals show a good visible light absorption, which extends its function to wider applications.