The Facile Synthesis of Cu2O-Cu hybrid cubes as efficient visible-light-driven photocatalysts for water remediation processes

Abstract

It is considered that the photocatalyst materials will play a vital role in order to solve challenging problems in the century we live in, such as global warming, clean energy demands, and environmental pollution. The well-defined hybrid Cu2O-Cu architecture cubes are synthesized in a one-step procedure without using a template and surfactants via an aqueous solution-phase synthesis route at low temperatures. The hybrid Cu2O-Cu architecture cubes are synthesized through the reduction of D(+)- glucose in an alkaline solution, while the pristine cuprous oxide cubes are synthesized by using l-ascorbic acid as a reductant. Compared to pristine Cu2O cubes, the heterostructure Cu2O-Cu architecture exhibits superior photocatalytic performance also against both dyes and herbicide due to the enhanced separation and impressive transfer mechanism of charge carriers in the presence of copper. The low cost, abundance, and nontoxic nature of Cu2O make it a promising visible-driven material for advanced oxidation processes.