Nanosized Cu2O/PEG400 composite hollow spheres with mesoporous shells

The nanosized Cu2O/PEG400 composite hollow spheres (HSs, 50-80 nm in diameter) with mesoporous shells of similar to 15-20 nm were synthesized by a poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-assisted wet-chemical method. In the hollow nanostructures, the polymer content was ca. 18.1 wt %, and the mean size of the component nanocrystals and the pore diameter were ca. 5 and 3.8 nm, respectively. In the fabrication process of hollow structures, poly(ethylene glycol 400) (PEG-400) molecules self-assemble to form micelles which act as templates for the formation of the hollow structures. PEG also acts as a reducing agent, solvent, and complexing agent. The formation of mesoporous structures is due to the oriented-aggregation of composite nanoparticles. The nanosized-composite HSs exhibited peculiar photoluminescence (PL) phenomenon with strong peaks at 414 and 436 nm and weak ones at 454, 570, and 637 nm. Furthermore, the HSs showed excellent adsorption ability for methyl orange (MO) because of their composite and mesoporous shell structures.