Abstract
THE brightening of the colour sequences shown by copper on continued oxidation and reduction has been observed to occur simultaneously with the increase in catalytic activity (cf. Hinshelwood, Proc. Roy. Soc., A, vol. 102, p. 318; 1923). Direct spectrophotometric observations have shown (Proc. Roy. Soc., A. vol. 117, p. 377; 1928) that the reflecting power of the metals, iron, nickel, and copper reduced from the granular oxide increases with the number of oxidations and reductions until a limiting reflecting power is reached, and that the brightening of the colour sequence is a consequence of the increased reflecting power of the underlying metal. The limiting reflecting power of activated reduced nickel and copper is, however, much less than that of the burnished metals. Thus a burnished metal surface becomes duller on activation, and the accompanying colour phenomena are less pronounced. This has now been verified experimentally.
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CONSTABLE, F. The Reflecting Power and Colour Sequences shown by Metals on Activation. Nature 122, 57 (1928). https://doi.org/10.1038/122057c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/122057c0
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