Active faceted Cu2O hollow nanospheres for unprecedented adsorption and visible-light degradation of pollutants

• Published in: Journal of colloid and interface science Vol. 565; pp. 207 - 217
• Main Authors: Yu, Wenbei, Liu, Jing, Yi, Ming, Yang, Jiuxiang, Dong, Wenda, Wang, Chao, Zhao, Heng, Mohamed, Hemdan S.H., Wang, Zhao, Chen, Lihua, Li, Yu, Su, Bao-Lian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 01.04.2020
• Subjects: Active facets; Adsorption; Anionic dyes; Cu2O hollow structure; Photodegradation; Pollutants; Photodegradation; Anionic dyes; Active facets; Adsorption; Pollutants; Cu2O hollow structure
• ISSN: 0021-9797; 1095-7103
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2020.01.022

The well-designed Cu2O hollow nanospheres with active {1 1 0} and {1 1 1} facets can quickly remove the pollutants from water. [Display omitted] We report the well-designed active {1 1 0} and {1 1 1} faceted Cu2O hollow nanospheres (Cu2O-HNs) for the quick removal of the high concentration pollutants in water. For the first time, these Cu2O-HNs combine the advantages of the active facets, hollow structure and nanostructures. The abundance of dangling Cu atoms in two active facets results in positively charged surface to effectively react with the negatively charged pollutants. The hollow structure provides the opportunity to take full use of these active sites. Consequently, the active faceted Cu2O-HNs demonstrate excellent adsorption and photodegradation capacities for high concentrated anionic dyes. The smallest Cu2O-HNs (~100 nm) can adsorb ~90% of methyl blue (MB) (100 mg L−1) in 10 min and degrade ~92% of MB (100 mg L−1) in 10 min under visible-light. In particular, a film consisting of the smallest Cu2O-HNs can quickly remove high concentrated organic dyes and be reused after solar light irradiation for 10 min in air, showing the promising practical application for the removal of organic pollutants.