Simple synthesis of Ag nanoparticles /Cu2O cube photocatalyst at room temperature: Efficient electron transfer improves photocatalytic performance

Abstract

In this experiment, Ag/Cu2O heterojunction was obtained by directly reducing Ag+ at room temperature in one step, and evaluated its performance of degrading pollutants. Through comparative photocatalytic activity experiments, it can be seen that the degradation effect of the catalyst is much higher than that of Cu2O nanocubes. The amount of Ag particles contained can be controlled by controlling the sum of silver nitrate, and it is found that Ag/Cu2O-3 has the optimal ratio. Through a series of characterization of the prepared samples, it can be concluded that the main reason for the improvement of the photocatalytic performance of the composite photocatalyst is that the presence of Ag improves the transference of photoelectrons, and then accelerates the separation of photoelectrons-holes of Cu2O. In addition, the presence of Ag particles expands the absorption range of Cu2O in visible light region, thereby improving the photocatalytic performance.