The electrochemical determination of free CuO in YBaCuO superconductor materials

Using a carbon paste electroactive electrode (CPEE), the mechanism of cathodic and anodic electrochemical processes on several copper oxide compounds in 0.1–1.0 mol/L hydrochloric acid media has been investigated. It is shown that the cathodic reaction of CuO is much more sensitive under selected conditions than that of other copper‐containing phases, which results in the variation of the preparation procedure of YBaCuO superconducting materials. A quantitative analysis is thus possible to determine the free CuO with a content of 0.5–10 wt% YBa2Cu3O7‐x with about 10–20% relative standard deviation. The cathodic reduction reaction by chemical—electrochemical mechanisms or by solid state conversion is also discussed.