Authors: Hui Shi Ke Yu Yang Wang Qingjiang Wang Ziqiang Zhu
Publish Date: 2012/05/05
Volume: 108, Issue: 3, Pages: 709-717
Abstract
Three kinds of novel cuprous oxide Cu2O micro/nanostructures are synthesized via a facile templatefree hydrothermal method Two factors are critical for the growth process of typical samples the concentration of copper ions CuII and the addition of Polyvinylpyrrolidone PVP as surfactant It is found that the application of ethanol as solvent speeds up the reduction rate of CuII and it promotes the aggregating of Cu2O nanocrystals at the preliminary stage to form irregular spherical structures Photoluminescence PL properties of the three kinds of samples and their photocatalytic activities for degradation of Methyl Orange MO are also measured The sample with higher concentration of copper vacancy V Cu defects has better photocatalytic ability indicating that besides the morphology of Cu2O nano/microcrystals the defects in crystalline structures can also influence their electrical characteristics and thus change their photocatalytic activity This provides a potential method to improve the photocatalytic performances of Cu2O crystalsThe authors acknowledge the financial support from the NSF of China Grant Nos 60976014 60976004 and 11074075 the Key Basic Research Project of Scientific and Technology Committee of Shanghai Grant No 09DJ1400200 and the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University PCSIRT
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