Facile Synthesis Of Cuprous Oxide Nanocomposites And Photocatalytic Properties

Because of the special structure of the nanomaterials, as well as its specific effects andperformance,the nanomaterials have the special purposes other than the conventionalmaterials. In environmental protection,semiconductor photocatalytic oxidation technologyhas many outstanding advantages and potential. This technique has attracted the attention ofmany researchers, and it has become one of leading edge on environmental purification in theworld. However, the combination speed of photogenerated electron-hole pairs was high,which restrains photocatalytic activity of individual semiconductor. In recent years, it hasbecome a challenge that developing non-toxic catalysts for visible light of high energytransmission efficiency and low cost.Cuprous oxide (Cu₂O) with a direct band gap of 2.17 eV can use the visible light of solarenergy. Hence, cuprous oxide has the potential value to solve the energy crisis. However,electron–hole pairs can easily recombine when the narrow gap semiconductor (i.e., Cu₂O) isused as a photocatalyst. Those reduced the quantum efficiency and limted the practicalapplication. Polycarbazole as a conjugated polymer with semiconducting behavior can beused in hole-transporting field. Thus, we considered that the conductive polymer shell mightrestrain the combination of photogenerated electron–hole pairs, and then improved thephotocatalytic activities of Cu₂O nanocubes.In this paper, the Cu₂O/polycarbazole nanocomposites have been firstly prepared via aone-pot solvothermal process with carbazole as reductants. Polycarbazole not only protectedand stabilized the Cu₂O nanocubes, but also prevented the nanocrystals from aggregation.Meanwhile, these composite structures inhibited the combination of electron–hole pairs,enhanced electron utilization between polycarbazole and Cu₂O, and then improved thephotocatalytic activities of Cu₂O nanocubes.Through hydrothermal method or water-bath method we also synthesized nanocompositephotocatalysts such as ZnO-Cu₂O, TiO2-Cu₂O and Ag-Cu₂O, and provide an experimentalbasis for obtaining a variety of effective photodegradation catalyst.