Structure, optical properties and photocatalysis performance of Cu2O microspheres prepared by hydrothermal method

Cu2O microspheres have been prepared by means of hydrothermal method as a function of reaction temperature ranging from 70 to 130 A degrees C. Microstructure, morphology, chemical composition, optical properties and photocatalysis performance of the as-received samples were investigated in detail. X-ray diffraction analysis shows that Cu2O and metal Cu content increase with increasing the reaction temperature. The samples are mainly composed of spherical particles and few Cu2O with octahedral structure emerges at 110 and 130 A degrees C. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurement indicates that the surface atom ratio of Cu and O is estimated about 2.3:1 for the sample prepared at 110 A degrees C. UV-visible absorption spectra show that absorption edge appears red shift with the increase in the reaction temperature and the absorption intensity at the same time. After illuminated for 100 min, the decolorization rates of the samples obtained at 110 and 130 A degrees C are above 80 %.