Developing Novel Processes for Copper Patination as a Green Building Material

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The use of copper patination has been growing rapidly over the past decade. Copper has been used for centuries due to its**longevity, durability, practicality and beauty. However, the recent global trend towards eco-friendly resource-efficient buildings has**resulted in a rapidly growing interest in the use of copper as a sustainable construction material and for its antimicrobial properties.**Copper as a construction material is durable, has a long life span, requires little maintenance and is readily reusable or recyclable.**Patination occurs naturally but can be also achieved artificially under controlled conditions in order to both accelerate the aging**process and generate a wider variety of patina colours. In the North America alone, green building materials demand is expected**to increase 11 percent annually to $86.6 billion in 2017 with the exterior productsexpected to be the largest segment. Therefore,**patinated copper products for building applications have a great market opportunity.**At the University of Toronto, we propose to develop a robust process by using environmental friendly chemicals to produce the**appearance of naturally aged copper for building applications. This project integrates leading edge concepts in material science,**chemistry and polymers (as a coating). Our novel copper patination materials will be more economic to use in external and internal**applications. This project will advance the current state of aged copper technology and expand the business offering of our**industry partner. Our novel processes for Copper patination as a green building material will find widespread applications in the**production of aged copper.**