Enhanced photocatalytic activity of porous cuprous oxide dodecahedron nanocrystals synthesized by solvothermal method

• Porous Cu2O dodecahedron nanocrystals were prepared via a mild chemical solution method.
• The possible growth mechanism of porous dodecahedron nanostructures was proposed.
• Porous Cu2O dodecahedron nanocrystals showed high photocatalytic performance.

The porous cuprous oxide (Cu2O) dodecahedron nanocrystals have been successfully prepared via a solvothermal reduction process at a moderate temperature. The average dimensions of these Cu2O dodecahedron nanostructures were about 750 nm in diameter. The crystal growth mechanism of the novel architectures has been discussed. And then, the as-prepared Cu2O samples were used as photocatalysts in the degradation of methylene blue (MB). Due to the porous nature of the products, the photocatalytic performance has been significantly improved. We believe that the current work will offer some ideas for further fabricating porous nanostructures and exploring their applications.