# Chinese scientists turn copper into "gold".

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-scientists-turn-copper-into-gold/826695>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [December 25, 2018, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-scientists-turn-copper-into-gold/826695 "2018-12-25T20:24:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\
**Post date:** [December 25, 2018, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-scientists-turn-copper-into-gold/826695/1 "2018-12-25T20:24:23Z")

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Can someone explain this to me? Have they created a new copper isotope or what?

> **[Chinese scientists turn copper into ‘gold’](https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2179209/chinese-scientists-turn-copper-gold)**
>
> Process in which copper is blasted with argon gas creates particles with similar properties to gold, with the resulting material having the potential to reduce use of precious metals in manufacturing.

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**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\
**Post date:** [December 25, 2018, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-scientists-turn-copper-into-gold/826695/2 "2018-12-25T20:39:21Z")

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They turned copper nanoparticles into a catalyst that can drive a specific reaction that usually requires a gold catalyst. Cool work, but not nearly the big deal for the general public that the headline would imply.

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**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\
**Post date:** [December 25, 2018, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-scientists-turn-copper-into-gold/826695/3 "2018-12-25T21:53:36Z")

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> [@davidm](#):
>
> Can someone explain this to me? Have they created a new copper isotope or what?  
> [Chinese scientists turn copper into ‘gold’ | South China Morning Post](https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2179209/chinese-scientists-turn-copper-gold)

> [@](#):
>
> Copper has a similar weight and look to gold.

umm, what? Gold weighs more than twice as much as copper, and I guess look similar in a non-silver-grey-metallic sense.

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**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\
**Post date:** [December 25, 2018, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-scientists-turn-copper-into-gold/826695/4 "2018-12-25T22:16:13Z")

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> [@wolfman](#):
>
> umm, what? Gold weighs more than twice as much as copper, and I guess look similar in a non-silver-grey-metallic sense.

No copper and gold have the same weight, you just need more copper;)

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**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\
**Post date:** [December 25, 2018, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-scientists-turn-copper-into-gold/826695/5 "2018-12-25T22:27:20Z")

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Or maybe feathers?

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**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\
**Post date:** [December 25, 2018, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-scientists-turn-copper-into-gold/826695/6 "2018-12-25T22:43:08Z")

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I would bother too much with a scientifically illiterate SCMP journalist’s misreporting.

Here’s the actual paper:  
[http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/4/12/eaau3275](http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/4/12/eaau3275)

Copper, Silver and Gold are all Group 11 metals, that’s probably the more relevant point for catalysis. They are not doing anything remotely like nuclear transmutation, of course. It seems that the key to the this process is that it makes copper more resistant to oxidation - which is a natural property of gold - and somehow that gives them the catalytic properties that they want.