Reduced graphene oxide-cuprous oxide hybrid nanopowders: Hydrothermal synthesis and enhanced photocatalytic performance under visible light irradiation

Reduced graphene oxide-cuprous oxide (rGO-Cu2O) hybrid was successfully prepared using a facile and efficient hydrothermal synthesis method, with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as a dispersing agent, glucose as a reducing agent, and rGO as two-dimensional support. The morphology and microstructure of the as-prepared hybrid were characterized by Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images, respectively. The result demonstrated that well monodispersed cube-like Cu2O particles precipitate on the rGO layer. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) determined the crystallographic structure of Cu2O is cubic and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) showed that GO had been reduced to rGO in our hybrid. Moreover, visible photocatalytic activity of the composites was tested using Rhodamine B (RhB) as the model contaminant. Compared with the corresponding bare GO and Cu2O, rGO-Cu2O hybrid demonstrated improved photodegradation activity for RhB dye under visible light. The investigation gave a promise to the development of original yet highly efficient graphene oxide-based photocatalysts that utilize visible light as an energy source.