Synthesis and visible-light-driven photocatalytic performance of Cu₂O/Au micro-nanostructures

Cu₂O microspheres were prepared by a room-temperature liquid-phase method using glucose as the reducing agent and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid as the morphology control agent. After that, Au nanoparticles were grown on the surface of Cu₂O microspheres by room temperature liquid-phase method with sodium citrate as the reducing agent, and Cu₂O/Au micro-nanostructures were successfully fabricated. The phase composition of the samples was characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), and the morphology and size of the micro-nanostructures were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Photocatalytic performance showed that the degradation rate of methyl orange (MO) by Cu₂O/Au micro-nanostructures reached as high as 87% under visible light irradiation for 90 min. Based on the heterojunction structure between Cu₂O and Au interface, the enhancement mechanism of the photocatalytic performance of the micro-nanostructures was analyzed and discussed.