Facile synthesis Cu2O nanomaterials via hydrothermal method: Effect of precursors ratio on structural and morphological characteristics

Abstract

The single phase Cu₂O nanomaterials had been fabricated via facile hydrothermal method using non-toxic precursors of CuSO₄.5H₂O and Na₂SO₃ (then, the CuSO₄ 0.3M and Na₂SO₃ 0.3M solution are mixed with volume ratios of 1:5, 1:6, 1:7 and 1:10, respectively). The observed materials were characterized using fine analysis methods such as X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The fabricated Cu₂O samples had flower-like morphology which was assembled from octahedral. The samples had an average crystalline size of ~20.1-23.3 nm and a narrow bandgap of ~1.98 eV. The photocatalytic activity of samples was investigated via Congo red (CR) dye photodecomposition experiment, the catalyst dose and the concentration of CR values were studied as the factors affecting the photocatalytic efficiency. The results showed that the fabricated Cu₂O samples had good photocatalytic ability in decomposing the CR solution in the visible region. The Cu₂O (M­_1-6) sample had the best degradation efficiency of the CR solution was the (reached 91.3% after 300 min under visible light radiation of the 150W Led lamp at the CR concentration of 20 ppm). The photo-decomposition rate constant of M­_1-6 sample reached 0.00774 min^-1.