Morphologically controllable synthesis of core–shell structured Au@Cu2O with enhanced photocatalytic activity

Abstract

Core–shell structured Au@Cu₂O nanocomposites with different morphologies were prepared by a facile solution route. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results indicated that the obtained nanocomposite consisted of gold nanorod (NR) core and Cu₂O shell, and both of them were in good crystallization. It was interested that the morphologies of the products could be tuned from octahedral to corner-truncated octahedral by changing the reductant. The results indicated that the reductant played a crucial role in determining the morphologies of as-prepared products. In addition, we investigated the photocatalytic properties of the products. It was found that both the core–shell structure and morphology of Au@Cu₂O nanocomposites had great influence on the photodegradation of MO. As a result, the Au@Cu₂O corner-truncated octahedral nanocomposites exhibited the best photocatalytic property. Our experimental results helped clarify the enhanced role of Au core and shape-dependent effect of Cu₂O NPs, which contributed to pursue more efficient photocatalysts and other promising applications.