Noble metal-free cuprous oxide/reduced graphene oxide for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution from water reduction

•Cu2O loaded reduced graphene oxide (Cu2O/RGO) was prepared by a facile approach.•The Cu2O/RGO showed an enhanced photocatalytic activity for H2 evolution.•The composite photocatalyst was cheap and highly efficient.•The less recombination of electron-holes were conducive to the improved activity.

Cu2O loaded reduced graphene oxide (Cu2O/RGO) was prepared via a one-step in-situ reduction method. Composition and structure of the Cu2O/RGO were characterized by X-ray diffraction, high resolution transmission electron microscope and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. With eosin Y (EY) and rose bengal (RB) as co-sensitizers, the activity of hydrogen evolution over the Cu2O/RGO dramatically increased and achieved a maximum when the loading amount of Cu on the RGO was about 3 wt.%. It exceeded that of RGO and Cu2O by a factor of 7.3 and 4.2 at the same conditions, respectively. It could be even comparable to that of the Pt/RGO under the same reaction conditions. This work showed a possibility of utilizing Cu2O as an alternative for noble metals (such as Pt) due to its low cost and high performance in photocatalytic hydrogen production.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide