Microwave Synthesis of Cuprous Oxide Micro-/Nanocrystals with Different Morphologies and Photocatalytic Activities

Cuprous oxide micro-/nanocrystals were synthesized by using a simple liquid phase reduction process under microwave irradiation. Copper sulfate was used as the starting materials and macromolecule surfactants served as the templates. The morphologies phase and optical properties of them are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflection absorptive spectra (UV-vis/DRS), respectively. The crystals had four different shapes, namely spheres, strips, octahedrons, and dandelions. The photocatalytic behavior of the cuprous oxide particles were investigated by monitoring the degradation of rhodamine B. In spite of the different morphologies, all of the cuprous oxide micro-/nanocrystals exhibited photocatalytic activities under visible light irradiation in the following order: dandelions, strips, spheres, and octahedral crystals. The photocatalytic degradation rates of rhodamine B are 56.37%, 55.68%, 51.83% and 46.16%, respectively. The morphology affects significantly the photocatalytic performance.