Facile hydrothermal deposition of octahedral-shaped Cu2O crystallites on bamboo veneer for efficient degradation of organic aqueous solution

Abstract

In this study, octahedral-shaped Cu2O microcrystallites were fabricated on bamboo veneer via the facile hydrothermal method and characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectrum, and X-ray diffraction. The results show that the octahedral-shaped Cu2O microcrystallites with an average size of approximately 10–15 μm are self-assembled by small Cu2O nanoparticles. After the immersion treatment by NaBH4, the catalytic efficiency of the prepared Cu2O/bamboo composites can reach 97.9% within 6 min for the methylene blue degradation and 97.0% within 1 min for the methyl orange degradation. The catalytic mechanisms are discussed and attributed to the Cu2O pseudomorphic conversion to Cu crystals for reduction and remarkable facet selective reduction by the (111) faceted Cu2O micro-catalyst.