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How to Make Ammonium Persulfate to Etch Copper

Ammonium persulfate is one of many compounds available for copper etching, and is often used for etching circuit boards in particular. It is available in a dry or powder form and must be mixed with water to create the etching solution. In addition, the solution must be hot to etch copper efficiently, and heat causes ammonium persulfate to decompose. Therefore, you must mix a fresh solution every time you want to etch copper. Mixing an ammonium persulfate solution is not difficult, but it is important to take proper precautions to ensure safety when handling this chemical.

Things You'll Need

Chemistry goggles
Gloves
Mask
Glass containers
Distilled water
Scale
Plastic spoon
Ammonium persulfate
Glass stirring rod

Instructions

- 1
  Put on the gloves, goggles and mask. Ammonium persulfate can cause serious skin irritation and unpleasant or irritating fumes. It can also cause allergic reactions in some people.
- 2
  Pour 100 milliliters of distilled water into a clean glass container. If you want to use the solution immediately, heat the water. The metric system is standard for the sciences, including chemistry, and working with grams and milliliters enables you to calculate ratios more easily. (see Reference 2)
- 3
  Put a clean glass container or disposable container for weighing chemicals onto a scale and tare it, or reduce the weight to zero so the scale does not take the weight of the container into account.
- 4
  Add ammonium persulfate powder to the empty glass container using a clean plastic spoon or a chemistry spoon until you have 10 grams of powder.
- 5
  Carefully add the powder to the container of distilled water and stir thoroughly with a glass stirring rod. The powder makes a clear solution, so stir until you do not see any powder. Make more of the solution, if necessary, until you have enough to cover the item you are etching.

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