Noble metal-free cuprous oxide/reduced graphene oxide for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution from water reduction

Cu2O loaded reduced graphene oxide (Cu2O/RGO) was prepared via a one-step in-situ reduction method. Composition and structure of the Cu2O/RGO were characterized by X-ray diffraction, high resolution transmission electron microscope and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. With eosin Y (EY) and rose bengal (RB) as co-sensitizers, the activity of hydrogen evolution over the Cu2O/RGO dramatically increased and achieved a maximum when the loading amount of Cu on the RGO was about 3 wt.%. It exceeded that of RGO and Cu2O by a factor of 7.3 and 4.2 at the same conditions, respectively. It could be even comparable to that of the Pt/RGO under the same reaction conditions. This work showed a possibility of utilizing Cu2O as an alternative for noble metals (such as Pt) due to its low cost and high performance in photocatalytic hydrogen production. Copyright (C) 2014, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.