Experimental study on photocatalytic activity of Cu₂O/Cu nanocomposites under visible light

Cu₂O/Cu nanocomposites (NCs) are synthesized using a two-step hydrothermal method, their different phase compositions are obtained by adjusting the reaction time, and then, they are used as photocatalysts to degrade dye Procion Red MX-5B (PR), methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO) under visible-light. Experimental results indicate Cu₂O/Cu NCs exhibit a much higher photocatalytic activity than pure Cu₂O, they remain almost unchanged in their phase compositions in the long photocatalytic reaction process, except for partial oxidation of particle surface. They still exhibit a high photocatalytic activity even at the end of four photocatalytic reaction cycles. It can therefore be concluded that Cu₂O/Cu nanocomposites are good candidates for processing of pollutant water.