A Facile One Pot Synthesis of Cu2O@TiO2: A Nanocomposite Catalyst for Enhanced Visible Light Driven Photocatalysis

摘要

abstract_textpThe highlight of this study is a successful attempt to obtain a visible light active photo catalyst by a single step synthesis procedure. The photocatalytic performance of Cu2O, a p-type semiconducting oxide with a band gap in the visible region of the solar spectrum is improved by the presence of TiO2 on its surface. Nanocomposites of Cu2O@TiO2 were synthesized by a facile one pot synthesis route. X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies confirmed the face centred cubic structure of Cu2O but was inconclusive about the TiO2 presence. Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM) images confirmed the octahedral morphology of the Cu2O particles and the presence of Ti and O on the surface. High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HR-TEM) and Selected Area Electron Diffraction (SAED) studies established the presence of nanocrystalline anatase TiO2 on the Cu2O interfaces. The specific role of the nanoparticles of n-type TiO2 positioned on the p-type Cu2O in improving photo-activity and making it visible light active was demonstrated. The photocatalytic activity of the composite was demonstrated by the degradation of a model dye Rhodamine B using visible light. It is observed that the photocatalytic activity is dependent on density of heterojunctions formed in the photo-system which the nano-crystalline TiO2 , has very effectively created on the Cu2O surface, which are responsible for the improved photocatalytic response. This work establishes that the in-situ creation of Cu2O@TiO2 is effective in creating p-n heterojunctions at the Cu2O@TiO2 interface, which result in arresting the recombination processes, leading to improved photocatalytic performance./p/abstract_text