Reduced graphene oxide encapsulated Cu2O with controlled crystallographic facets for enhanced visible-light photocatalytic degradation

The Cu2O/reduced graphene oxide (Cu2O/rGO) composites with effective crystallographic facet controlling of Cu2O crystals were fabricated through a simple one-step wet chemistry method. The crystallographic facet-dependent photocatalytic performance of Cu2O was confirmed, favoring the cuboctahedral Cu2O with {100} and {111} facets and a better photocatalytic activity when compared to cubic and octahedral ones. This was attributed to the slight difference of surface energy between {100} and {111} facets which served as a driving force to promote the separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. Moreover, the introduction of two-dimensional rGO sheets could accelerate the transfer of photogenerated electrons from Cu2O to rGO, which further promoted the separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs and the degradation of methyl orange (MO) under visible-light irradiation. The cuboctahedral Cu2O/rGO composite exhibited a superb photocatalytic performance with the degradation percentage of MO about 97.6% after one periodic photocatalysis due to the synergistic effect of cuboctahedral Cu2O and rGO sheets, foreboding its potential application as photocatalyst.