A facile one-pot synthesis of Cu2O/RGO nanocomposite for removal of organic pollutant

Gathering the photocatalysis of semiconductors and the superduper electron transmittability of graphene, graphene-based semiconductor photocatalytic composites are attracting increasing interest of researchers. In this paper, a Cu2O/reduced-graphene-oxide (Cu2O/RGO) nanocomposite was prepared via a facile wet-reduction process, for removal of organic pollutants. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and UV–vis spectrophotometry. The nanocomposite is composed of Cu2O nanoparticles with sizes of 100–500 nm attached to the RGO sheets. For photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) under visible light, the Cu2O/RGO nanocomposites exhibited greatly enhanced photocatalytic efficiency compared to the pure Cu2O nanoparticles. The enhanced photocatalytic performance was mainly ascribed to the increased adsorptivity to organic dye as well as the efficient charge transportation and separation from Cu2O to RGO.

► Cu2O/reduced-graphene-oxide (Cu2O/RGO) nanocomposite was synthesized via a mild one-pot wet-reduced route.
► The Cu2O/RGO nanocomposite exhibited greatly enhanced visible-light-driven photocatalytic performance.
► The mechanism for the enhanced photocatalytic activity of Cu2O/RGO nanocomposite was discussed.