AbstractThe cyclic decomposition of cupric oxide followed by the oxidation of cuprous oxide in air was studied, in order to investigate the potential use of this reaction cycle for chemical energy storage. Isothermal and non‐isothermal thermogravimetric method was used to study the kinetics of these reactions. The activation energy of the forward reaction (decomposition) is 313.0 kJ mol−1in the temperature range 760–910°C, while that for the backward reaction is 76.5 kJ mol−1in the temperature range 400–500°C. The reaction reactivity was found to be essentially unchanged for up to 20 cycles. This was explained as due to the swelling of the CuO particles and the development of a highly porous structure on repea