Synthesis and Photocatalytic Properties of Spatially Ordered Nanostructured Cu2O/TiO2 Composite Films

A method was developed for the preparation of Cu2O/TiO2 composite films by polyol reduction of copper(II) acetylacetonate deposited into ordered porous matrix of TiO2 nanotubes by the PVD technique at reduced pressure. An electron microscopic examination showed that the resultant films consisted of highly organized TiO2 nanotubes whose surface was uniformly coated with individual Cu2O nanoparticles ranging in size from 1 to 5 nm. The possibility of preparing composites with Cu2O content controlled in the 0.1-2.3 wt % range was demonstrated. Deposition of Cu2O nanoparticles was found to improve the photocatalytic activity of the original porous TiO2 films. Specifically, in photocatalytic degradation of phenol in the presence of the resultant composite films the reaction rate displayed an extremal dependence on the Cu2O nanoparticles content with a maximum observed near 1.7 wt %.

Automated summary

Cu2O/TiO2 composite films were prepared by polyol reduction of copper(II) acetylacetonate deposited into ordered porous matrix of TiO2 nanotubes, showing improved photocatalytic activity with Cu2O nanoparticles deposition, peaking near 1.7 wt %.