Tuning Interfacial Cu-O Atomic Structures for Enhanced Catalytic Applications.

Abstract

Cu2 O/CuOx (x=0, 1) nanocomposites with well-defined morphologies have been widely applied in catalytic reactions. However, people still understand less about tuning interfacial Cu-O atomic structures for enhanced catalytic applications, and a special review on this topic has not been reported so far. Herein, we summarize our understanding on tuning interfacial Cu-O atomic structures based on the literature, including the formation as well as evolution mechanism of Cu-O interfaces in Cu2 O/CuO and Cu2 O/Cu systems, and the improved performances in the fields of CO oxidation, NOx oxidation, photoelectrocatalysis, water gas shift reaction, photodegradation of organic dyes, hydrogen evolution, and photoreduction of CO2 . Finally, we briefly propose several potential research directions.